Second Chances
by CrowCake
Summary: Naruto wakes up after the end of the battle of Sasuke vs. Konoha. Nothing in the world could have prepared him for what he finds lying beside him. AU. Spoilers up to 402.
1. New Beginnings

**Timeline Note: I started this story right after Sasuke declared he would attack Konoha. I knew nothing about the Hachibi or its fight, so anything about that is disregarded for this plot. Sorry for the confusion.**

**A/N: **Alright, this sort of an experiment for me, so you have to tell me what you think. I'm still deciding if I'm going to continue this, so I really need feedback on what I should change, add, etc. If you think it's total crap, you have to say so, okay?

* * *

The first sensation Naruto felt upon waking was pain; sharp and intense in some places, dull in his joints and muscles, but pain all over none the less. He disregarded this, surprised to even find himself alive, and snapped his eyes open.

He was lying on his back in a clearing, his head turned to the left, too lazy and too much in pain to bother turning it to the right. There were a few more snapped tree branches and kunai embedded in trunks than he remembered, but Naruto could just about recognize this part of the forest as being not too far from his usual training ground and Konoha.

Konoha!

Naruto struggled to get to his feet, but if the overall pain of his most recent injuries didn't stop him, the overpowering headache that came when he tried to raise his head did. He let himself fall onto his back again, breathing hard with a beads of sweat already forming on his brow. He needed to get to get back there, but how? Who knows how long he could have been out of it? And Sasuke… oh damn it, Sasuke could have the whole place in ruins by now. Worse yet, if the bastard didn't succeed, they'd kill him for sure. Naruto had to get back and somehow stop both things from happening. What if it was too late?

Naruto cursed as he tried to at least prop himself up by his elbows and failed. He'd never had to deal with this sort of thing before; Kyuubi would usually make sure the worst of his physical pains were taken care of. Speaking of which, it was probably that stupid fox's fault Naruto was in this mess, it usually was whenever Naruto found huge chunks of his memory gone missing as he did now. Well, might as well ask him.

The blonde closed his eyes and tried to relax, imagining himself in the dripping chamber that contained the cage of the demon. Sure enough, he found himself there, and the second he did he regretted ever having come.

The first indication of something being wrong was the floor; it was comply dry and concrete. There were no echoing dripping sounds or malicious intent or burning chakra in the air, nothing. There was always water, there was always murderous intent. The chamber always gave Naruto chills, but seeing it so empty was just as disturbing. He was currently away from the cage, and although there was a sickening feeling in his gut of what he _might _see, being the masochist that he was he turned to look none the less.

The enormous gates he had looked at so many times before loomed over him in the semi-darkness. Normally they would be parallel, with only a paper seal holding them shut. Now, there was no seal to speak of, and the gates had swung open like a malicious maw. Beyond them was nothing but darkness, not even a tiny red glimmer of a hope. There was no trace of the creature that had been held captive there.

It was a shock to say the least. The blond took a shaky step back and tripped. He fell with a plot onto the hard stone floor and just sat there, too shaken to utter a sound or take his eyes off the metal doors. Sixteen and a half years those things had kept back the creature that had both ruined and saved his life on countless occasions. The only think he could think now was, where was it now?

His head pounded, but after many minutes, perhaps hours, the memories of what occurred here trickled back to Naruto, making his blood run cold and breath ragged.

* * *

_The water of the floor was much higher than it usually was, easily up to Naruto's knees if he didn't bother to stand on top of it. The swooshing of Kyuubi's tail and his excited chuckles filled reverberated along the walls._

"_Why did you drag me in here?!" Naruto bellowed at the glowing eyes in the darkness. "I need to stop Sasuke! He's going to destroy Konoha! I don't have time for this!" _

_Kyuubi laughed once more. "It's not Konoha you should be worried about." the fox paused took in Naruto's confused expression with delight. "Besides, I didn't summon you here... he did."A flick of a tail indicated that the blond ought to look behind him.  
_

_Naruto swerved around to face the darkness directly across from the cage. All he saw was a expanse of water receding into the shadows. Everything was perfectly still. Naruto started to turn back to give the fox a piece of his mind when a tiny ripple skidded across the water. It was followed by more, and soon the blond realized they were coming from approaching footsteps. He could only watch as a lone figure emerged from the darkness. _

_Naruto gritted his teeth. "Sasuke." _

_The Uchiha smirked. "You let your guard down far too easily, dobe. It's entirely too effortless to get in here." _

_Naruto glared daggers at him, internally wishing he knew how exactly he was supposed to prohibit access to the cage chamber for a Sharingan user. _

"_All the better for me, I guess," Sasuke wasn't even in a fighting stance, the arrogant bastard. The way he was standing, hand on his hip, he looked as if he were taunting Naruto back when they were twelve. "Anyway, what are you waiting for? Break the seal." _

"_The what?"Naruto didn't understand, but Kyuubi snickered. _

"_Oh don't be thick," Sasuke pointed behind Naruto to the tag keeping the two doors of the cage together. "That."_

"_Do you think I'm fucking stupid? Why would I do that?" Naruto screamed, drawing a kunai out of his sleeve to defend himself._

"_Well, to be frank, yes, I think you're very stupid. And weak. There's no way you could defeat me without breaking that seal and releasing _his_ power." _

_It was Naruto's turn to smirk. "I'll die protecting this village, just like I'll die making sure that you're back to stay. I have my own power, I don't need the fox." _

"_Big words," Sasuke sneered, reaching back for his sword. "Unfortunately, not the words I was looking for. You see, if _you_ break the seal, there's a small chance you might live. Very small, but still a chance. If _I_ cut the seal open.__ However,__"__ The Uchiha drew his katana, and lovingly ran his finger along the blunt edge of the blade, "I get control and you die."_

_Sasuke's Sharingan morphed somewhat, but before Naruto could tell what changed exactly, Sasuke vanished from the spot with nothing but a ripple of water. He reappeared a second later within arm's reach of the metal bars, sword raised to slash open seal. Naruto spun around and ran to stop him, although instinct told him it was a wasted effort. He could never make it in time. _

"_Sasuke!"_

_The sword came down with a sickening whoosh. Just before the sword met the paper seal, Sasuke's arm halted. Naruto came to a stop too, unsure of what just happened. _

"_I'm afraid I can't let you do that." A cold, human voice echoed. It was not Sasuke's, and it was certainly not Naruto's.  
_

_The latter gasped, for the first time seeing a human arm reached out of Kyuubi's cage, holding Sasuke's at bay. The sword the raven-haired youth was holding dropped from his grip and disappeared into the water with a gulp, his fingers noticeably shaking, as the figure that the arm belonged to stepped forth from between the bars. _

"_N-nii-s-san." Sasuke managed to stutter out as he backed up several paces. _

_Naruto crouched into a defensive position. He couldn't see Sasuke face from the angle he was at, but didn't need to to know the expression he wore. _

_There was a long silence as the two boys regarded the man, and vice versa. Sasuke was the first to come to his senses and yank his arm out of his brother's grip. _

"_What are you doing here? You're supposed to be dead. I killed you!" Sasuke voice portrayed something close to weakness, telling Naruto that Itachi was definitely not part of his plans. _

_Itachi disregarded the question entirely. "I had a feeling Madara would get to you before your friend did. Shame." He waltzed past his brother, who sidestepped in shock to let him pass, and made his way to Naruto. _

_The blond raised his kunai, but Itachi made no move to try to attack, simply stopping a few feet away. "This is only half of my power," he continued, "but it seems that you'll need it. It should last you about twenty minutes, in which time I urge you to make sure my brother ceases any attempt to try to get the Kyuubi. I would recommend killing him, but you have already expressed a desire to find other methods. That is your choice as long as you do it in the twenty minutes I can give you protection from his Mangekyou Sharingan." Naruto cocked his head to the side, completely lost after the first sentence, but Itachi ignored him. "My brother is strong, he's defeated half of my power before, although he needed to rely on his own inner demons to do it...something he doesn't have anymore." Sasuke snarled quietly behind him. "So, what do you say?" _

_Naruto hadn't even finished processing the information, so he just blinked. _

"_Good enough," Itachi shrugged, and dissolved into crows. Naruto flung up his defenses but the crows were too many, as they swirled around his thicker and thicker, obscuring his vision and his movements. The last thing Naruto saw before he was completely surrounded was Sasuke hoisting up one of his kunai and bringing it down sharply across the seal on the cage._

* * *

Naruto groaned as he looked up through the leaves at the sky. It was cloudy, or it could have been ash, it was hard to tell. There was no way of knowing what had happened after Itachi gave Naruto his power, or if it had even worked considering the seal had been broken before hand. Struck by a sudden idea, Naruto lifted his jacket up over his navel and lifted his head just enough to see. Sure enough, the familiar black markings were gone, replaced by a gash across his stomach that, like most of his current injuries, had the appearance of being healed in a hurry and not quite finished.

Pulling his shirt back over his exposed stomach Naruto let himself fall back down again, for the first time with his head turn to the right. If he had been standing up, he would have jumped.

There, lying not four feet away, was Sasuke. He lay face down in the grass, his clothes torn in places, but most of the injuries on his body were burns. Naruto tried to reach his arm out to touch him, to see if he wasn't just hallucinating, but his fingers couldn't quite reach. For a startling moment, Naruto didn't think he could see the Uchiha breathing. That was all it took.

With a sudden jolt of energy, the blond pushed himself off the ground into a sitting position and crawled over to his friend. He leaned his head in close, looking for signs of breathing and a pulse. Sure enough, both were present, strong and sure. Naruto let himself slouch down next to Sasuke, willing his own heart to stop beating so loudly. Sasuke was alive. Thank god, oh thank god.

For the first time in years, Naruto could sit next to his comrade without fear. When Sasuke would wake he'd try to kill Naruto, but for now all was at peace. After a long silence, Naruto dared to turn his friend over so that he was lying on his side. He'd forgotten how calm the Uchiha could look when he was asleep; defenseless, harmless, almost cute in a way. Naruto reached over and pulled a bit of his raven hair out of his face.

Wait a second, what was he doing?! Naruto pulled his hand back in disgust and stared accusingly at the sleeping form before shoving at it. "Oi, wake up teme!" he ordered a bit more gruffly then he'd meant to.

Sasuke's face scrunched into an annoyed expression before his eyes opened. The two old friends blinked at each other, Naruto sitting and Sasuke still lying on the ground at his knees, for a few seconds. The moment of hesitation ended when Sasuke swiftly produced a kunai out of nowhere and held it to Naruto's throat. All Naruto really had to do to get rid of it was push Sasuke's arm out of the way, but he kept his hands by his sides making no effort to disspell threat.

"Who are you?" the Uchiha growled.

Naruto's eyes widened a fraction. "What are you talking about?' He tried to sound threatening but it came out in a falter.

"I asked, who the hell are you?" Sasuke spat, and tried to prod Naruto with the kunai, but the blond finally moved to pin his arm to the ground. He pushed on the arm until Sasuke was forced to let go of the weapon, but still kept his grip firm afterward.

"Stop being stupid, you know full well who I am, teme."

"Who do you think you're insulting!?" Sasuke twisted around in Naruto's hold, managing to give him a hard kick to the shoulder that sent him sprawled out on his back with a grunt. Before Naruto could get back up, Sasuke was had managed to maneuver himself onto Naruto so that he was practically straddling waist, kunai in his fist once more held to the blond's throat.

"No one insults… um…uh…" Sasuke seemed to be at a loss. His eyes darted to the side as if looking for something, and Naruto felt the metal press harder into the flesh of his neck.

Naruto ignored the knife at his throat, as he was more focused on where Sasuke was sitting. It wasn't so much the position itself that was bothering him, if was his reaction to it. Naruto was never one for knowing what was appropriate in which situations, but the tightening in his pants just had to be a mistake. "…Uchiha Sasuke?" he tried to finish for him, hoping that this would get Sasuke off because his face was starting to color.

"So that's your name, is it?" the raven-haired boy drew the kunai back a fraction. "That still doesn't tell me what you're doing here."

Admittedly, it was getting harder to think the longer Sasuke sat on him like that, so it took Naruto a while to catch what the Uchiha had just said.

"What? No! That's _your_ name! My name is—"

"No! That's impossible! My name is…my name…is…" Sasuke let the hand holding the kunai fall to his side as a pouty frown came over his face.

Then he began to fidget, which in his current position, caused Naruto all the more discomfort. The blond wasn't really able to focus on the real problem at hand since he was more conflicted with why the hell _Sasuke sitting on his turned him on so fucking much. _It was _Sasuke._ He was _guy._ Naruto had never had this problem before. He could wrestle Kiba to the ground and not feel a thing. He's spar with Lee. Naruto was supposed to like _Sakura_; he was supposed to like _girls._ No, he still liked girls. This was _wrong._ So wrong on so many levels.

"Oi, Sasuke." Naruto finally managed. The Uchiha flinched at the sound of the name, which sent shivers up Naruto's spine, which at the moment hurt like hell. "Mind getting off?"

Seemingly for the first time, Sasuke noticed exactly where he was sitting and immediately jumped off, allowing Naruto to sit up painfully. He landed in a crouch ten feet away and glared his Sharingan at the blond. There was another silence, in which Naruto had the odd feeling that Sasuke knew what Naruto was so flustered about.

"So…what you're saying is my name is Sasuke," he ventured. Unlike Naruto, he didn't fail at coming across as calm even when completely confused.

Naruto nodded.

"And your name was…?"

He beamed. "Uzumaki Naruto!" he proclaimed, trying to give Sasuke a thumbs up, which turned out to be more painful then expected. If the pain didn't stop him, the blunt truth hitting him the face did. He was introducing himself. To Sasuke. Who was was supposed to know him. But didn't. He didn't even know himself.

"Yeah, sure… so you know me?"

Did he? The Sasuke Naruto knew wouldn't go about destroying his home village to avenge his _brother's_ honor.

"Yes."

"How do I know I can trust you on that?"

Naruto really didn't know how to answer this question. In fact, he didn't have much a reason to trust Sasuke at this point either, but, "I don't think you have a choice, and neither do I."

Sasuke stared at Naruto, giving him the odd impression that he was looking inside him (which was entirely possible with the Sharingan for all he knew.) After a moment, the Uchiha repocketed his kunai, the universal Shinobi symbol of truce.

"Fine then," Sasuke stood up, although it clearly agitated his injuries to do so. "Since I don't know my way around, you will have to lead. We need to find somewhere to get medical attention."

Naruto nodded in agreement and tried to stand up as well but was forced to fall to his knees. Sasuke sneered.

"Need help?" His voice was just dripping with sarcasm.

"No! I can make it." Naruto grunted, and tried to raise himself up again. How had he gotten up before? He'd been too preoccupied with worrying about Sasuke the register! He cursed.

Sasuke sighed and walked over to the struggling blond, slipping one arm under his waist and helping to lift him up.

"You're full of yourself," Sasuke observed matter-a-factly. "Which way?"

Naruto nodded in the direction of the village, and Sasuke made his way in that direction, supporting a limping Naruto beside him.

"_I'm_ full of myself?" the blond retorted, "what does that make you?"

Sasuke turned his face to glare at him sharply, but then changed his mind and looked down at the ground to his other side, mumbling something about not asking stupid questions.

Naruto studied the side of his face that he could see before realizing his mistake.

"Oh, you… you don't know, do you?" he asked quietly.

Sasuke just huffed in response, ending the conversation.

The path back to the village was well used, so Sasuke was leading for the most part. Naruto really hated to be needing him for support to walk, but right now he was just too happy to care. Sasuke was back, and he was going to Konoha by his own accord. Naruto had finally fulfilled his Promise of a Lifetime. He could picture Sakura's face perfectly when she would see them entering the hospital. Who knows, maybe even Kakashi would he be there, and the old team would be reunited at last. Granny Tsunade would be so impressed she's make Naruto Hokage. Everything would be wonderful and peaceful just as it had been before. Except this time, Sasuke would stick around.

Naruto looked over at his comrade's expressionless mask. So maybe his loss of memories hadn't changed his so much; he still seemed like an emotionless bastard, but what did it matter? What would any of it matter now that he was back? Naruto would make sure that Sasuke was back to stay no matter what. Then, when Sasuke's life was finally established, he'd tell him everything; everything that happened with Itachi and Orochimaru and Akatsuki and what he could scrap together from what had just happened with Kyuubi. He wouldn't spare a detail and wouldn't alter a fact. Everything would be as it was. Yes, a new Promise of a Lifetime: he would tell Sasuke all he knew about his past life. He swore by Ero-sennin's grave he would tell him, make him see reason, make him stay for good.

Yes, the world was falling into place again.

"Are we close?" Sasuke asked.

"What?" Naruto was snapped out of his happy imaginings. "Ah, yeah. We're really close to the village."

"What village?"

"The Village Hidden in the Leaves!" Naruto proclaimed proudly. "You'll love it there! Wait until you see everyone! They'll sure be glad to see you! Oh, I can't wait to get home and—"

Sasuke nudged him to be quiet, and sniffed the air suspiciously.

"Do you smell that?"

Naruto closed his eyes and inhaled. Something peppery cough in his throat and he began to cough.

Sasuke stopped lowered Naruto to the ground, waiting for him to finish before speaking.

"It's smoke."

Smoke means fire. Naruto looked down at Sasuke arm supporting him around the waist; he could just see his hand. Sure enough, it was burned a bit in places. Naruto looked back up, fixing a determined gaze at the next corner, the one around which he knew he would find one of Konoha's smaller many side gates.

"We're almost there," he muttered, and began to stand up, forcing Sasuke to help him up and continue forward.

Sasuke said something about going too fast, but Naruto ignored him. All he focused on was putting one foot in front of another and hoping, _praying_, that the smoke wasn't coming from anywhere near Konoha.

Just as they were about to make it around the corner Naruto broke free of Sasuke's support and limped with newfound strength around the bend. He tripped to a stop, eyes wide and breath hitched.

Before him was not the gate, or a wall, or even a building. Everything was leveled, a big smoking pile of rubble as far as the eye could see. Parts of it were still aflame, but the fire was dying down for the most part. Ruined buildings, twisted metal, bloodied weapons, all lay still and silent on the land that was once a village. The Kage Mountain beyond it was also ruined, as if a giant club had come ripped a big gash right across all the faces. It now stood like a grave over the remains of the battlefield. Sasuke's team could not possibly have done this. It was Kyuubi. It was himself. Naruto was responsible.

He didn't notice as Sasuke came up along side him.

"Something tells me we aren't going to find medical attention here," he smirked after a moment of regarding the scene. "Let's go find another town before—"

But he didn't get a chance to finish what he was saying because Naruto pelted forward, falling to his knees before the very edge of the ruins. With all the strength he had left, he flung the nearest piece of rubble out of the way, then another and another. He dug into what was left, looking, searching for something, he didn't know what. Something had to be under this, something that wasn't destroyed.

The people that were here! Sakura! Kakashi! Granny Tsunade! Kiba! Lee! Hinata! Neji! Shikamaru! Chouji! Sai! Where were they? They had to be under here somewhere! They had to be alive! They were just under that piece of that fallen wall!

Naruto threw it aside but no one was there. He reached in further, scorching his hands and scratching his flesh against broken glass but there was nothing.

"Hey! Stop it!" Sasuke was standing over him, holding Naruto's arm back before he could pull anything else away. "Stop it," Sasuke repeated. His voice was calm, but his eyes were blazing, alarmed at Naruto's reaction.

"I have to find them!" Naruto bellowed back at him. He tried to pull his arm away but Sasuke wouldn't let go that easily.

"Find who?" Sasuke yelled back.

"Them! Sakura-chan! Kaka-sensei! Them! Everyone! They have to be here!" Naruto felt something pushing at his eyes and his nose and his throat. "Let me find them! Help me!"

Sasuke stared at Naruto, searching his face before scanning the ruins with his Sharingan.

"They're dead, Naruto. " Sasuke whispered so quietly Naruto almost didn't hear. "It's no use. There's no chakra signature anywhere."

"No!" Naruto screamed at him, "No! They're alive! They're still alive! Their buried! We have to find them! We have to save them!"

"You can't." Sasuke turned around completely in place "You could get a whole army to search this place top to bottom. All you'll find are their ashes."

"An army! That's it!" Naruto almost felt like laughing. An army! He needed an army! Without hesitating he crossed his fingers into the familiar hand sign. "Mass Kage-Bushin no Jutsu!" he cried to the empty air.

Nothing happened.

Naruto looked around, startled. Where were his clones? He was supposed to make five hundred of them. He tried repeating the jutsu, but still got no results.

"It might help if you actually mold some chakra," Sasuke suggested sarcastically.

"That's what I'm doing!" Naruto shouted.

"That's not what I'm seeing." Sasuke had his Sharingan fixed on Naruto's stomach. "Tch. You barely have enough chakra to make one regular clone. You're years away from attempting a Shadow Clone."

"Shut up!" Naruto screamed at him. "Just shut up! I do this all the time! I have plenty of chakra! Just watch! Mass Kage-Bushin no Jutsu!"

Still nothing.

"You're not even molding the chakra you have. Just give it up."

"No! I can do this!" Naruto tried and failed once more. He knew it was no use, he knew full well, but if he gave up, everyone he knew would be as good as dead. "I can do this! I have to save them!"

Naruto's cheeks were wet and he had no idea why. "I have to save them…I have to save them…" he muttered, his voice much quieter than before. He couldn't bare to look at the ruins or Sasuke or the forest, so he just let himself fall forward over his knees, still muttering. It was gone; everything was gone. Sasuke was back, but everyone else was lost.

He didn't flinch when he felt a hand on his shoulder. Sasuke didn't say anything, so Naruto just kept sobbing; he didn't care what Sasuke thought of it. He wouldn't want Sasuke to say anything anyway. The tears just kept coming with no end and there was nothing Naruto could do to stop them. They sat next to the burning ruins of Konoha with nothing but the crackle of burning wood and Naruto's hysterical wails and repeating of "I have to save them," to fill the silence.

* * *

Naruto had no idea how much time had passed before he stopped. He would have kept crying, but there seemed to be no more tears to pour out. Sasuke still hadn't taken his hand off Naruto's shoulder, and he waiting a long time after Naruto had stopped shaking to say anything.

"We should go."

Naruto ignored him.

"Come one," Sasuke stood up and pulled on Naruto's arm to do the same, but the blond refused to budge.

Sasuke placed his hand on his hip. "Well you can't just sit there forever."

Naruto looked up at him, his cheeks still red and blotchy, then back down at the ground in front of him.

"They're really gone, aren't they?" he whispered.

Sasuke too looked at the ground.

"Yeah. Yeah they are."

Naruto sighed. "I wish you could have met them. They would have been so happy to see you." He looked up at Sasuke and gave him a weak smile that never quite reached his eyes.

Sasuke nodded solemnly and reached a hand down to help Naruto up, who just turned his face away at the offering.

"I don't want to leave," he said blankly as he looked out over the destruction. "I can't. Look at this," he gestured out to the expanse. "The Hokage Mansion was just over there, that's where Granny Tsunade lived. And right next to that was the hospital where Sakura-chan worked. And right over there," Naruto pointed to where each building stood in turn. "Over there was Chouji's favorite barbecue place. And there was the rooftop where Shikamaru would always watch the clouds. That's where Kakashi bought his porn, and just a few blocks from there is where my apartment was. And that bit over there that's still smoking was the Hyuuga grounds. And that way, way over at the other end," Naruto's finger shook, "was the Uchiha compound. It's been empty since you left."

Sasuke looked between the blond head, his pointed finger, and the distance where it pointed.

"I used to live here? What happened to the other Uchihas?"

Naruto looked up at his questioning face and shook his head. A promise was a promise, but it was too soon. Ironic, how Sasuke had forgotten the pain of losing everyone, just as the weight of it was thrown upon Naruto.

"Let's go," Sasuke suggested when he'd figured the blond wasn't going to answer his question.

Naruto frowned. "I said I'm not going."

"Are you going to sit around and wait until someone comes and blames you for all this? Come on," Sasuke pulled on Naruto's arm again.

"I said no!"

"Fine then," Sasuke smirked. "At least tell me where the nearest town is."

"East about two miles," Naruto mumbled under his breath. "Just follow the road."

"Thanks," Sasuke's smirk widened as he grabbed Naruto around the ribs and hoisted him over his shoulder with little effort.

"What the crap?! Put me down, bastard!" He blond yelped, grabbing onto the nearest object he could find that just happened to be a bit of singed wood that gave way as Naruto was lifted off the ground leaving him with a fist-sized chip clutched in his hand. "Put! Me! Down!" he yelled, hitting Sasuke back with his fists and trying to kick him in the face.

"We'll get to the hospital a lot faster if you stop struggling," Sasuke reminded him, but Naruto didn't pay him any mind.

"No! Put me down! I have to stay!"

"Two miles east you said?"

"Bastard! No! Let me go!"

"You know I would," Sasuke paused, "but then I'd be completely lost. As useless as youare, you're better than nothing."

"Great, that makes me feel a lot better… Now put me _down_!"

Sasuke chuckled and ignored the demand.

As the ruins grew smaller and smaller, Naruto struggled and cursed like a sailor, but his captor paid him no mind. It was a few minutes after the village was out of sight completely when he stopped.

"I fucking hate you," he hissed in Sasuke's ear

It took a few moments for the sarcastic reply.

"Bummer."

* * *

**A/N:** Well that was pretty long, wasn't it? Okay, now the explanation. Sasuke is OOC, I know. But he doesn't remember anything, so the Uchiha Massacre, the quest for revenge, all that is gone and not affecting him anymore. He still has Shinobi skills and such, but most everything else is gone. Just imagine it as if the Uchiha's were never killed. What would Sasuke be like then. OOC, that's what.

Changes are, Naruto is going to be as well, at least for a little while. He's lost everyone and everything close to him, (except Sasuke,) so don't expect him to be cheery and such; that's completely unrealistic. But not to worry, he'll be back to normal... I hope.

I don't know if I'm actually going to put NaruSasu/Sasunaru in this, but I'll try. Actually, tell me if I should. I need major feedback with this piece since it's the first of its kind that I've done. Again, what do I need to change/add/delete..etc. You get the point: REVIEW!


	2. SOS

**A/N: **And the OOC continues. I really don't like this chapter very much.

Humor + Gore + fluff

* * *

Naruto heaved a sigh of relief when the town finally came into view. An hour ago he started to complain to Sasuke that being carried like this made all the blood rush to his head, after which Sasuke dropped him and told him that he weighed a ton anyway and he should have said something earlier. They took a rest and continued with Naruto half-walking half-leaning on Sasuke. After five minutes Naruto didn't think he'd be able to make it much further but his dignity wouldn't let him ask to be carried. For once in his life, he didn't complain either, and rather kept vigil knowing he was the only one who was left to mourn his friends. Sasuke, completely oblivious to this change from Naruto's usual disposition, didn't say anything either.

As the boys got closer and closer to the town, Naruto subconsciously strained his ears to hear the sound of people. Yet no such sound came; not even a bird could be heard in the utter silence, even though they were so close to civilization. Sasuke must have noticed as well, because Naruto felt his shoulder tense up in preparation for an attack.

The strange silence prevailed even as they came inside the unattended gates; the guards were nowhere to be seen. In fact, there wasn't a single person to be seen; the streets were completely empty. Neither of the boys dared to say a word as they stumbled together through the abandoned town. The only sound to be heard was Naruto's foot dragging along the cobble stones as they passed empty house after empty house. Nowhere was there any sign of struggle or death, it was as if the entire population had just vanished. From what Naruto remembered, the town was fairly small, only about a hundred people or so, but where were they?

The sound of shifting gravel behind them made Sasuke spin around quickly and Naruto turn painfully after. Both took up defensive stances and drew whatever weapons were closest to hand. Then as one, they dropped their shoulders and Sasuke switched off his Sharingan when they saw what had shifted the gravel.

It was a girl, no more than fourteen or fifteen, who had run out of her house. Her brown hair was fairly long and hazel eyes were blazing at the two intruders. She was clutching a large kitchen knife with both hands, obviously ready to attack if they made a wrong move. She looked them over, her eyes lingering on Sasuke a bit longer before darting up to Naruto's headband. Her eyes widened and she dropped the knife in shock. The sound of the knife clattering to the ground snapped her out of her trance and she peeled her eyes away from the two Shinobi and to the door.

"Ma! They're survivors!" She yelled into the house. She waited for a reply, and when none came called again,"Ma!" She motioned for the boys to wait as she ran into the house.

Naruto and Sasuke just had time to exchange glances before the girl emerged again, dragging with her a heavily pregnant woman in a messy apron with plump cheeks and a welcoming face. Upon catching sight of two boys she gasped and smiled warmly and she waddled over to them as quickly as she could. On instinct they drew back slightly, but the civilian women had no way of noticing as she grabbed each boy in turn and planted a kiss on each of their brows.

"Oh thank goodness someone survived," she cooed. "I was so worried when Arashi came back saying that everything was burned right down to the ground. Right down to the ground, he said! Can you believe that? Said no way anyone could have lived through that, but I told him, I told him no way, it's a village of ninjas for gods' sake! Someone had to have lived and here you boys are! I'm so happy!" she fretted with them going as far as to spit on her apron and wipe a smudge of dirt off Naruto's cheek. "Pesky lines won't come off. Oh no matter, no matter. Come in boys, please come in. You look tired, you're probably injured, and hungry! Oh gracious me, Yuko!" She turned to her daughter who stood in the gate gawking at Sasuke. "Yuko go get supper ready, I need to tend to these boys."

"Oh that's really not neciss—" Sasuke began as the Yuko rushed into the house. Naruto begged to differ, but didn't have time to say so.

"Oh nonsense, nonsense!" the woman rambled, helping Naruto towards the house leaving Sasuke to follow. "You boys have been through a lot! I insist! Yuko and I have been dying to know what happened over there last night! Oh, you won't believe some of the things we saw! Simply terrifying!"

She went on like that the whole way in and as she practically pushed the two Shinobi onto an old tattered sofa with the faded pattern of sunflowers on it in the main room where she immediately began smothering burns with a foul-smelling crème and bandaging cuts without ever pausing for a breath. Naruto and Sasuke could do nothing more than sit, and nod and smile occasionally, exchanging confused looks in between. Sasuke, whose shirt was tattered beyond recognition, was given another one. When it came to Naruto the woman frowned as she prodded him in several places and asked if it hurt.

"Yuko!" she called when she was finished with her diagnosis, "Help me take this boy into the other room!"

Yuko emerged from what Naruto assumed must have been the kitchen because along with her came the intoxicating smells of food that made his mouth water. Together, the two women helped Naruto out of the room. When Sasuke got up to try to help he was forced back down onto the sofa. Meanwhile, Naruto was taken into a small bedroom across the hall. From what he could see of the house, it was pretty tiny and fairly poor, but managed to feel very much like home. Colorful flowers decorated the wallpaper and the pictures hanging from it, as well as the carpet. The woman instructed him to take off his jacket and the shirt underneath before settling him onto a futon in the corner and shooing her daughter off. When Yuko was gone she locked the door and checked for anyone outside the window as she closed the blinds.

Naruto lifted his head to see what was going on, but she shoved his shoulder back down.

"Listen boy," she whispered softly, "you have a few broken ribs, a broken collar bone, the bone in your thigh is cracked badly and you have a few torn muscles. I can fix them all, but you have to promise never to speak of what you see me do, alright?"

Her voice was much more serious than before, and all Naruto could do was nod solemnly.

The woman gave a nod back before forming a few hand signs so that her hands glowed green.

"You can do med—" Naruto yelled in surprise, but she clamped a hand over his mouth and motioned for him to be silent.

"No one must know that I can do this, do you understand?"

The hand was still clamped over his mouth, so all he could do was nod again. Only when his mouth was free did he whisper. "How can you do that? Why don't you want anyone to know?"

The woman sighed and began on one of his ribs. "It's a long story. Someone I knew a long time ago had been a Shinobi that taught me healing. Bad things happen to civilians who learn ninja arts," she furrowed her brow as sadness filled her voice. "They're targeted, either by enemies or even by the Hidden Village of their own country. You mustn't tell anyone."

Naruto tried to tell her he'd swear on his life not to tell a soul but she shushed him. "Don't talk, I need to focus. Just relax, it'll all be over soon."

Naruto considered the hazards of allowing a stranger put chakra into his body, but the motherly way in which this woman treated them seemed as far from a threat as could be. He let himself sink into the pillow and succumb to the warm tingling of the medical jutsu. In a minute he was fast asleep, dreaming that it was Sakura healing him.

* * *

Sasuke sat quietly as instructed on the sofa, now alone in the small living space. From the looks Naruto had been exchanging with him, he didn't know these people either, and for Sasuke, it was enemies unless proven otherwise or absolutely necessary. Heck, he barely knew Naruto, but from what he'd just experienced he was probably an emotional wreck. He didn't strike him as entirely smart either, so the chances of him acting the whole time were low. Besides, no one could fake the emotions that flashed through the blonde's eyes just a few hours ago by those ruins. He would trust him for now, at least until he got some decent information on his own past, if the boy really did know him from before. Before what? The only thing Sasuke could really remember was the color red, and that was about has helpful as anything. It was just red, and burning, and then he was waking up to the blonde practically punching him the arm.

Yuko interrupted his thoughts when she walked in from the kitchen carrying two bowls. She smiled sweetly as she handed Sasuke one of them and placed the other on the table before sitting down on the sofa next to him in the spot Naruto had just occupied.

The bowl Sasuke had been handed contained a few steamed vegetables and some sort of unidentifiable meat on top of a rice. It looked safe enough, but he wasn't going to disrespect his host by checking it for poisons while she was sitting right next to him. The girl, however, wasn't planning on leaving and instead sat there staring at him. When he raised an eyebrow at his odd behavior she just smiled and scooted closer so that she was practically touching him.

"Hi," she said quietly.

Sasuke stared at her before mumbling, "Hey."

"I'm Yuko," she told him, batting her eyes. "What's your name?"

"Do you have something in your eye?" he asked.

The batting of the eyes immediately ceased and was replaced by a pout. "Why won't you tell me? I'm sure it's a good name…"

Sasuke wasn't sure what to tell her. On the one hand, it would be smarter to tell her a false name because that way he couldn't be traced. On the other hand, Naruto might have already blurted out his name, and it would sound suspicious if he told her something different. Besides, she might know something about him.

"Sasuke," he answered flatly, and stared down at his food.

"See? I think that's a very nice name," she leaned closer. She was practically on top of Sasuke now, and it was very irritating.

"You're really cute, Sasuke-kun," she added with a giggle when he didn't say anything.

Sasuke frowned at her and moved ever so slightly away.

Yuko pouted again. "You don't have to be shy. My mom will take a while healing your friend. We can entertain ourselves here…"

Sasuke tried not to show his disgust at the implied pastime and but scooted a fraction over none the less.

"You're a ninja, aren't you?" she asked, still oblivious to Sasuke discontent. "That's_ so_ cool," she murmured, running her hand up his thigh. He scowled.

Sasuke really wanted to draw his sword right now. Things would be so much easier if he just killed her, but she was their host after all, and her mother was feeding them and healing them, and it would be simply rude to kill her daughter in return.

"Why is the town empty?" he blurted out instead.

"Huh?" Yuko sat back, finally giving Sasuke room to breath. "Oh, we were told to evacuate. See, after all that stuff that happened over in Konoha last nigh, some people went to check, and they came back with these reports saying the place had burned to the ground!! So all the neighboring villages were told to get out of the area. I have no idea why. Do you know?"

Sasuke knew exactly why. A Hidden Village was the military power of the country. If they village fell, the country was basically defenseless. As soon as the other countries found out, they would come and try to take it. Of course, the first thing they would do is go to the find the Hidden Village and make sure the rumors that if was dead really were true. The safety of the neighboring towns was not guaranteed. Of course they would be evacuated.

"Not a clue," he mumbled. "Why are you and your mother still here?"

"Oh! It was her idea!" Yuko swatted at the air. "She says the baby's due any day and she wants to have it here at home rather than in some refugee camp. We're leaving right after it comes. You can come with us if you'd like!" She leaned into him again.

"I'll…have to ask my companion." That's a no. You can get your cleavage out of my face now.

The door that Naruto had been taken through opened and Yuko's mother waddled in.

"Ma!" Yuko suddenly sprang up from the couch, completely flustered, and brushed off her skirt, blushing like crazy.

"Help your mother over to the couch, Yuko," you woman sighed. The girl scrabbled to help her mother.

Sasuke stood up to make room for her but she just waved him back down. "No, no. You sit. Why haven't you eaten anything? Eat, eat!" As soon as her mother was settled, Yuko rushed out of the room and into the kitchen, still very red in the face.

Sasuke faked a smile at the woman sitting next to him before reluctantly picking up a chunk of the mystery meat from his bowl and putting it in his mouth. It wasn't the greatest thing he'd ever tasted, (not that he could remember,) but it was decent. He gave another tiny smile to the woman, who returned it warmly.

"I'm glad you like it!" she leaned back into the sofa and sighed, rubbing her temples with thumb and forefinger. "Oh goodness, I'm exhausted. This boy here is starting to kick something fierce," she rubbed absently at her stomach. "And your friend was injured real bad. It's a wonder he was able to make it all the way here! Oh, what am I saying? It's a miracle you two even survived? What happened over there?"

Sasuke looked up, his mouth full of rice, and took his time swallowing to ponder his reply to the question. "I….don't…know…" He began slowly as the story formed in his head. "I wasn't there. I came across the ruins and heard him calling for help. I can to crawl under a burning post to get to him. He didn't tell me anything of what happened."

"Oh how brave of you!" the woman cried, grabbing Sasuke head and pressing it to her chest. "Oh you poor baby! So valiant, saving a complete stranger! So brave!"

Sasuke thanked the training he couldn't remember for being able to hold his breath through the whole rant about how brave he had been, because she was completely smothering him.

By the time she let go, Sasuke had been starting to get dizzy.

"Did you see anything that happened?" he asked as a change of subject.

"Oh it was horrible, deary, just horrible!" She grabbed his hand and clapped it between her own. He resisted the urge not to pull it back. "It must have been the middle of the night! There was this sudden wave of fiery energy! Blasted across town, woke up just about everyone! Well, we all rushed outside, and there standing in the middle of the forest like it was grass was this enormous fox! At first I thought it was on fire, it sure did look like it, but then one of our neighbors yells that it's got quite a number of tails on it! Sure enough, there were a bundle of them, all moving far too fast for me to count, but far more than a fox should have! And they were swinging all over the place! I think one of them smashed that big old mountain with all the heads on it! Oh the fox was huge! And the energy coming from it, uh! Could have knocked me dead right on the spot! I swear!—"

"What happened then?" Sasuke interrupted, knowing he wasn't going to get any information if she kept going at this rate.

"Oh, right, right. So there was this fox, and everyone was simply frightening out of their wits, I know I was. It jumped around a few times. I could have sworn I heard it laughing but that's just ridiculous. Foxes don't laugh! What a silly idea! So it was out for maybe a minute or more, and then this other blast of energy came and a hole opened up in the sky! Will you believe that? A Hole in the sky!"

"A hole?"

"Oh yes, yes! And the fox, the fox jumps up and right through it and disappears. The hole closes up behind it and then everything is perfectly silent. Everyone starts whispering, wondering what happened and all. A few of the young men around here decide to go out there and take a look. The neighbor's boy, Arashi, was one o'them. Oh I was worried sick he wouldn't come back alive. You ninjas don't usually like it when us civilians get involved and we told them that, we did, but they really wanted to go see what had happened. Not every day a giant fox comes out of nowhere and disappears into the sky now is it?" the woman chuckled.

Sasuke took this momentary pause for air to take his hand back, stand up and place his now empty bowl on the cabinet next to the sofa. "Thank you," he bowed to the woman. "It was very kind of you to heal me and my friend and to provide this lovely food. I think it's best we leave before it gets too dark. We don't want to intrude on your hospitality."

"Oh, nonsense! Nonsense, boy! You two simply must stay the night! Your friend is already asleep in the next room! I hope you don't mind sharing, I already took the liberty of moving an extra futon in there. You can't leave now! You need some well-earned rest, the both of you!"

Before Sasuke could protest the woman heaved herself to her feet and pushed him along out of the room.

"Please, get comfortable! Make yourself at home!" she whispered as she opened the door and practically shoved him inside before closing it behind him.

He stood awkwardly in the doorway until his eyes adjusted to the darkness before fumbling his way to the unoccupied futon at the other end of the room. Naruto shifted slightly in his sleep as he passed.

"Mmm, who's there?" he mumbled.

"It's me, Sasuke."

Naruto smirked, not bothering to open his eyes. It made him look very fox-like in the darkness.

"You woke me up," he muttered. "Bastard."

Sasuke smirked too as he pulled his shirt off and crawled under his covers. It was silent for a few minutes, and Sasuke was sure Naruto was asleep again until he spoke.

"Hey, you know that Yuko girl?" he whispered.

"Yeah. What of her?"

"She's kinda cute, isn't she. Seems kinda shy though."

"Oh, yeah, she's _really_ shy."

"Are you being sarcastic at me?"

"No, what makes you say that?" Sasuke found himself smiling.

"Ass," Naruto mumbled as he turned away from the Uchiha.

Sasuke waited until his breaths had evened out. It was amazing how a foul-mouthed stranger could wipe away all his anger and unhappiness with a few insults and a smirk. It didn't make any sense, and it didn't really have to because Sasuke was too tired to figure it out right now. He let himself drift off listening to Naruto gentle breathing.

* * *

Naruto's eyes shot open in the darkness. At first, it was unclear what had woken him up. He kept as still and silent as possible, yet all his instincts were on high alert. Sasuke was lying on his own futon not far off, also fully awake.

A wave of murderous intent washed over the room. Both boys tensed visibly, straining their ears for its source.

A shrill yell echoed through the house. Naruto recognized it was most likely being Yuko's. The enemy was close, possibly even in the room next door. Sasuke had probably realized this as well, and both of them jumped from their beds and began to throw on their clothes and weapons. Naruto was surprised at how well his injuries had healed at the hands of the Yuko's mother.

When both were ready and suited up, they stood by the door. Sasuke put his hand on the door knob. Their eyes met and Naruto noted the Sharingan shining brightly back at him. He nodded, and Sasuke nodded back before retching open the door. Both jumped into the hallway.

At the far end stood a Shinobi, clad in black, with a Stone headband. He noticed Naruto and Sasuke immediately, and shifted into a fighting stance. A second Shinobi, also in black and also from Stone, walked out of the room closest to the end of the hall and closed it behind him, wiping the blood off his sword on a nearby tapestry. The carpet of what Naruto could see inside the room was soaked in blood as well. The blonde grit his teeth.

The first man hissed something to his oblivious partner, who turned his head to look at the two Leaf ninja before going into battle stance himself. Naruto only had time to draw a kunai out of his sleeve before the fight was on.

The second of the Shinobi leapt at Naruto, sword raised, but the blonde dodged it. This hallway was much too tight a space to fight it, they had to get outside somehow. Sasuke managed to solve this problem by shoving Naruto aside to dodge an enormous earth jutsu that came flying their way. The rock burst through the wall behind them, and the two boys took the chance to get into the open night air.

Naruto used the pause that it took the Stone Shinobi to follow them outside to form him hand sign.

"Kage Bushin no Jutsu!" he yelled. Like the day before, no clones appeared. Naruto swore.

"Don't you know any other jutsus?" Sasuke hissed.

"Of course! I know Rasengan!"

"Great, then use it!"

"I can't! I need a clone for that!"

Sasuke was about to make some sort of smart-ass comment about it when the Stone Shinobi jumped out. Naruto had no choice but to dodge and throw his kunai at his attacker. The Shinobi snickered at Naruto's naïveté and swung his sword at him. The blonde threw some shuriken, which also missed, and drew a second kunai preparing for hand-to-hand combat.

Behind him, Sasuke had just about finished off his opponent. Naruto growled in annoyance and leaped at the Stone Shinobi, who jumped out of the way. Naruto wasn't able to dodge the counter-blow in time, and winced as the sword sliced into his upper arm. The cut wasn't deep, but it hurt like hell.

How was he supposed to fight? His chakra wasn't working for one thing, which would have been okay if his opponent didn't have a sword. Evidently he needed to disarm him, but how? Naruto tried to think of how he'd won fighting in the past when he'd run out of chakra, but only one thing came to mind. Kyuubi. Where was that damn fox when he needed him?

The enemy attacked again and all Naruto could do was jump aside. This wasn't getting him anywhere. What he really needed to do now was go back and check if Yuko and her mother were alright. The Stone Shinobi advanced at Naruto once more, sword raised. Just as the blonde prepared to dodge once more a second blade ran right through the attacker's stomach. Some of the blood splashed onto Naruto's shocked face as the opponent fell to the ground with a groan.

"You're totally helpless," Sasuke informed the blonde as he wiped his sword against the fallen man's leg.

"Well I was going to thank you, but I just changed my mind," Naruto sneered, smudging the blood off with his own sleeve.

"Fine by me," Sasuke smirked as he resheaved his sword and turned to go back to the house. Naruto took a last look at the two dead Stone Shinobi before running to catch up.

As it turned out, Yuko and her mom shared a room; both were now lying dead on the floor of their home. The woman's eyes were closed and peaceful, meaning she had been killed first in her sleep. This must have woken Yuko, who was killed next, since her eyes were open in alarm. Naruto squatted down to close them for her. He didn't lie when he said she was pretty. Next, he crawled over to her mother, and quietly pulled the blanket over bleeding abdomen, thanking her silently. How many more people did he have left to lose?

Sasuke remained standing behind him, his expression blank and unreadable. Both turned their heads to the sound of movement outside.

"Come out you cowards! We know you're in there!" someone yelled from outside with an Earth Country accent.

The boys exchanged glances; it was a fight in here or a fight out there, either way, no way out. Sasuke drew his sword. Naruto fished around in his pocket for his last remaining kunai. With a final nod they marched out of the room, down the hall, and out of the hole in the wall.

Outside, they were met by a platoon of Stone Shinobi, outmatched ten to one.

"You know what really blows?" Sasuke asked Naruto, taking a fighting stance and never taking his eyes off the enemy.

"What?" the blonde asked, doing the same.

"Everyone I've met this past day has died," he said with a smirk.

Oddly enough, Naruto found this profoundly funny and beamed. He was going to die; he wasn't nowhere near okay with that, but someone couldn't bring himself to care. He didn't have any trouble believing Sasuke couldn't hold his own against these guys, and now Naruto would be off to join his fallen friends. Spending a day with Sasuke like this was more than worth it, but as much as he would want to spend the days that followed, getting one chance to say goodbye to all the people he'd loved….he'd take that chance.

"Here's to a day-long friendship," Naruto murmured half-heartedly.

"Here, here," Sasuke called quietly in return just as the first Stone Shinobi moved to attack.

He was headed for Naruto, an enormous club hoisted over his head. The blonde's eyes widened at the incoming danger, but he didn't move to dodge.

"Naruto!" Sasuke cried, but his voice sounded distant and foggy. Everything seemed foggy and distant and slow for some reason. Naruto closed his eyes and braced himself for when the club would hit. This was it. Goodbye Sasuke, hello everyone else!

A whoosh of movement just a foot or so from Naruto's face made him open his eyes again. The club-wielder had been knocked off his feet by something that was now wrestling with him on the ground. It wore rags and was moving too fast to get a good look at, but by the light of the moon didn't look entirely human. It had several weapons, all swinging about as it attacked the Stone Shinobi.

The club-wielder's comrades stared for a moment.

"Go, you idiots! Attack!" the man on the ground yelled at them.

Without hesitation each hoisted up his weapons and ran at Naruto and Sasuke, only to be blow off their feet by a gust of wind that only rustled Naruto's jacket.

"What the hell is going _on_?" Sasuke exclaimed, edging away from the rag-clad thing of the ground as it jumped off the club wielder and now turned to face them.

* * *

**A/N: **Cookies to whoever can guess what or who just saved Naruto's and Sasuke's lives!

OCs...how did I do? I had to add in something! Were they too Sue-ish? It was unavoidable, I'm sorry. (every girl Sasuke meets thinks he's cute in some way or another. As annoying as it is, it's the only in character thing I can do)


	3. Destination

**A/N: **I can't believe no one guessed it! Oh well, I only have my own useless description skills to blame. It worked out in the anime just fine the the first time...

Anyway, this chapter is a little on the short side. Sorry, there's a lot of dialogue , too.

* * *

With effort, Naruto willed himself to move to look at the creature that had just saved his life. He'd definitely seen it somewhere before, it just took him a moment to realize where. It had been more than three years ago, at the preliminary round of his first Chunnin exam, when he had last seen this thing in action. The name didn't immediately spring to mind, but there was no time to think about it now. The puppet spun around rapidly and flew at the closest opponent.

Naruto gulped and turned to look at Sasuke, who was staring at him with a mix of bewilderment and anger. Their eyes met only for a moment, and then the Uchiha pushed off and jumped into the air to meet with one of the Stone Shinobi with a clash of metal. Another gust of wind blew through the battle scene, this time tearing apart buildings and trees in its path. It managed to slice open three enemies, which fell down with a wet slushy sound similar to that of vomit hitting lenolium.

Naruto ignored all this. His heart was racing and his breath came in ragged gulps. He'd been so prepared for death, so close, so ready; he'd wanted it, needed it, expected it, and at the last second, couldn't bear it. Just as the club had started on its downward swoop, he felt his blood race and his muscles tug at him to run. He would have chickened out if he'd gotten the chance. In the end, he just wasn't ready for it to end.

Now he just felt weak and helpless. Unable to fight, unable to move, unable to even face his own death—he was a coward, and nothing more.

His knees buckled below him and he let them give out. Just in time he remembered to throw his hands out to brace himself. He sat there, hunched over, half his concentration focusing on inhaling and exhaling, half on the yells and sloshes of the battle before him. The hairs on the back of his neck told him there was an abnormal amount of electricity in the air, no doubt Sasuke's doing. For some inexplicable reason, he felt completely drained. He didn't lift his head, even when footsteps grew dangerously close. They gave a yelp and the sound of a body crashing to the ground was heard, and a few streams of blood ran into Naruto's line of vision.

Another pair of footsteps, a different walking pattern than the one of the man that now lay dead just feet from the blonde, jogged over to Naruto, and Sasuke swatted down before him. Naruto still couldn't bring himself to look up. He could see about two thirds of Sasuke body if he let raised his eyes without moving his head. His clothes had plenty of blood splattered on them, but he didn't seem to be hurt. Naruto's shoulder, however, was throbbing.

Sasuke waited a few minutes for Naruto to look at him, but when this didn't seem the case he reached forward and tilted Naruto's chin forcibly to look up. Naruto knew how pathetic he must look, but couldn't bring himself to resist or care.

Sasuke had been grinning slightly, no doubt the adrenaline rush of his first real fight, but his smile fell as he scrutinized look Naruto gave him.

"You okay?" he uttered so quietly.

It was kind of a stupid question to ask by someone who had just slaughtered ten men, if not more, to a pathetic loser sitting on the ground too afraid to even die. Naruto tried to turn his head to look away, but Sasuke pushed his face back over to look at him. Frustrated, Naruto slapped the Uchiha's hand away and sat back, no longer supporting himself with his arms.

Behind Sasuke, the battle seemed to be other. The puppet of, Naruto still couldn't remember the guy's name properly although he knew he should, was standing stock still among the dead bodies as if daring any of them to come back to life and attack again. When none did, a rustling of the bushes behind Naruto told him their friends were finally coming out to show themselves. Sasuke instinctively stood up and moved to stand just behind the blonde's back, but Naruto remained seated, only turning to face the direction that the sound was coming from.

Kankuro was already out, Temari clambering out after him, still picking a few pesky branches from her hair in disgust. Naruto heard the quiet scraping of sand against the ground behind himn as Sasuke widened his stance in case he needed to fight, but did nothing more.

"Hey Naruto! Long time no see!" Temari called, striding over confidently. Kankuro followed behind, a bit irritated, glaring daggers at Sasuke.

Naruto met Temari's gaze, but didn't smile. She looked a bit concerned as she stopped in front of the two boys, never peeling her eyes away from Naruto's face.

She forced a smile. "You know, you were pretty lucky he called your name back there." She didn't gesture to Sasuke, or even look at him. "We almost mistook you for one of the enemy."

Naruto gave a small nod and averted his eyes. Temari frowned; she looked like she might ask if everything was alright, but the answer was obvious enough. Asking _what_ was wrong seemed out of the question, too.

"So the rumors are true, then?" She resolved quietly, kneeling in front of him.

Naruto felt tears pushing at the back of his eyes. His throat was burning, too. He swallowed hard and clenched his jaw.

"All of them?" Her voice cracked.

Naruto hadn't heard any rumors so far, but nothing seemed more outrageous then Konoha leveled to the ground.

Temari seemed a bit taken aback by his silence. Anyone who had met Naruto even once would be if they'd seen him acting like this. Kankuro's fingers flinched a fraction, causing the puppet behind them to flinch as well. Sasuke's hand flew involuntarily to his sword.

Temari ignored them. She was also looking at the ground, and from the look on her face was pushing back tears just as hard as Naruto was. She was fidgeting with a ring on her left hand, turning it around and around her third finger.

"Temari," Kankuro finally broke in. "I'm sure there's a chance he survived…"

"No." Her voice was an octave or two higher than before. "If he'd survived he'd be with these two." The twisting of the ring became more frantic.

"Temari…" Kankuro tried to place his hand on her shoulder but she stood up sharply before he could. She wasn't looking at Naruto or the ground anymore, her glare now fixed on the Uchiha.

Shikamaru had once tried to describe Temari's death glare to Naruto. Even without understanding half the words that came out of his mouth, Naruto had broken into a cold sweat. Besides, he'd understood the part about ripping his balls off and shoving them down his own throat clearly enough. It seemed that Sasuke was now experiencing the look first hand.

"Do we arrest him?" she hissed quietly to Kankuro.

Kankuro shook his head. "We can't. He's technically listed as a Fire Country criminal. We aren't allowed to touch him."

Temari ground her teeth, never once blinking or taking her eyes off the Uchiha. Sasuke remained calm as ever, more disturbed by the fact that he was listed as a criminal somewhere then by the look he was receiving. Temari's nostrils flared at his lack of reaction.

_Slap!_

Naruto looked up to see Sasuke's head turned sharply to the right, fingers gently touching his quickly reddening left cheek, his eyes wide. Kankuro seemed just as shocked as Sasuke was, but his expression was almost smug. Temari was breathing heavily, one hand clutched at her side in a white-knuckled fist; the other still strayed out in the air to the right between Sasuke and herself.

Slowly, Sasuke turned his head back to face her, his expression back to its usual mask.

"You know what?" Her hiss was cold and low and much louder than a hiss ought to be. "You have no idea…" She was twisting the ring on her finger again, so hard the skin around it was turning red. Her voice was shaking dangerously. "You have no idea how many _lives_ you put at stake _every time you make the wrong choice_. You might not care about a single one of them, but there are people who do. And every time you do something this _utterly stupid_, you hurt just about everyone around you. You arrogant asshole!" She was screaming now. "Look around! See this? _This_ is the start of the Fourth Ninja War. Do you know whose fault it is? _Yours!_" The ring was off her finger, clutched in her right hand. Angry tears streamed down her face, but she didn't notice. "Konoha has fallen! The Fire Country is defenseless!"

"But you don't care." She was smiling madly as she gestured around her. "You don't care one freaking bit, do you? You probably _enjoy_ the pain you are causing to every last person on this fucking planet! Congratulations, Uchiha Sasuke! Congratulations!" She flung the ring down at the ground so hard it bounced back up at sped at Sasuke, who seemingly inhuman speed struck a hand out to catch it in his fist.

But before the ring even had time to hit the ground Temari had already turned heal and stomped back in the direction from which she and Kankuro had come, leaving her brother standing awkwardly facing the two Leaf Shinobi. A forced silence hung in the air; no one dared to move.

Sasuke was the first to break the trance as he reached out carefully and dropped the ring into Kankuro's palm. He nodded as he accepted it, and turned it around in his fingers to inspect it.

"She would have killed you, you know," he told Sasuke without looking up at him. "I'd probably help her, but that would go against diplomatic boundaries, no matter how fuzzy they may be right now. Still," he held up the ring, smirking. "You are responsible for the death of her fiancée; I don't think she gives a fuck about rules at the moment." He tossed the ring lightly and caught it in his fist before shoving it into his pocket. "Let's go, Naruto."

Naruto stared back at him, confused.

"Come on, what are you waiting for?" he extended his hand down to the blonde.

Naruto's brain wasn't working right; he couldn't understand anything that was being said.

"Y-you're Gaara's brother, right?" he finally chocked out. His voice sounded odd, even to himself. "The one with the makeup. What was your name again?"

He frowned. "Kankuro."

"Is Gaara here?"

If there was one thing Naruto's brain could comprehend right now, is that he needed to see Gaara. He would know what to do. He'd know what had happened. Gaara would tell him that this inability to use his chakra was temporarily brought on by being torn from his Bijuu. Gaara would know and explain everything.

Kankuro snorted. "Gaara is the Kazekage. You really think he would send himself on this type of mission?"

Naruto looked even more dejected now.

"But, we'll gladly take you back to see him as soon as we're done with our report here. Let's go."

Gingerly, Naruto reached for the hand, but hesitated a few inches away.

"What about Sasuke?"

Sasuke had been standing completely motionless behind Naruto since Temari walked out.

"What about him?" Kankuro scowled. "He stays here."

Naruto's hand shook slightly where it was before he lowered it back to the ground. As much as he wanted to run all the way to Suna from where he sat, he couldn't leave Sasuke behind alone. There was no way he would let the Uchiha go off on his own and fall back into the manipulative hands of god knows who again.

"I'm not going without Sasuke." he stated flatly. The man in question showed no reaction with his movements, and Naruto didn't care to look at his face right now.

Kankuro chuckled. "I don't think Temari will allow you to bring him along."

"Then we'll go ourselves."

The puppeteer's face grew serious. "I can grant you safe passage, but I don't know about him. Just look at what's he's done! Look what he's responsible for!"

"But he isn't responsible! I don't care what happened, he was being controlled! But now he's lost all his—"

Sasuke was suddenly in a squat behind Naruto, hand clamped firmly over his mouth before he would finish the sentence. Kankuro looked between the two suspiciously.

"Controlled, you say?"

The hand was still clamped over his mouth, so Naruto just nodded.

Kankuro sighed and slung his backpack off his shoulder. He rummaged through it as he talked. "Quite frankly, I don't believe you. But," he drew out a pad of paper and a brush and started to write something. "You seem to trust him, don't you, Naruto."

The blonde nodded again.

"That will have to do then. I wouldn't if I were you."

He finished writing with a flourish and ripped the paper off the pad, handing it to Naruto. He took it and pulled, but Kankuro didn't let go.

"Don't make me regret this," he warned, looking directly as Sasuke as he let go of the paper.

Naruto read through what was written there as Kankuro walked past them to retrieve his puppet. Sasuke let go of the blonde's mouth, and they both examined the note together. The handwriting was messy, but the main point was clear; Uzumaki Naruto and Uchiha Sasuke had permission to cross onto Wind Country territory and speak with the Kazekage. What it meant was, the security on the boarders had shot up big time. What it meant was, the world really was going into a state of war.

"One more thing," Kankuro called as he slug his puppet over his back. "Lose the headband. If anyone sees you wear it, they'll kill you on sight."

Naruto nodded again as he folded up the paper and tucked it into his pocket.

"I guess I'll see ya," Kankuro walked past them the other direction. He turned around just before he got to the bushes and threw an accusatory look at Sasuke. "Or maybe I won't." His eyes darted back to Naruto's face, somewhat concerned. "Just…take care, okay? You look like you're contemplating killing yourself, honestly."

And with that, he was gone.

There was a moment after the rustling of branches faded into the night when everything was still and silent. Naruto still felt exhausted and empty for some reason. He wasn't even aware of Sasuke presence until he was lifted up by his armpits from behind. It took him a second to find his footing.

"Can you walk?" Sasuke asked. His voice was cold, like he was trying to suppress anger but not entirely succeeding.

"Ah," Naruto gave a small nod and took a step forward. The wound of his shoulder was burning a little and he clutched it protectively.

"We have to find somewhere to stay the rest of the night."

Naruto didn't need to be reminded. The town wasn't safe to stay in since it was such an obvious target for the invading Shinobi. Naruto faintly remembered a small stream not far from where they were now. He'd stayed near that stream once before on a mission; there was a fine spot to hide out for the night just off the bank, probably a quarter of a mile from the town.

Naruto ambled into the forest in the direction on the stream, and Sasuke followed behind wordlessly.

* * *

The little clearing was smaller than Naruto had remembered it, only about six feet or so at its widest, but there was room enough. The gurgle of the stream was barely audible; a handy thing if you want to hear enemies approaching.

Naruto sat down with a plop in of the clearing and let out a sigh. The pain in his shoulder was subsiding now, but it was still bleeding. Thankfully, it was nowhere near life threatening.

Sasuke walked around the clearing once, looking in all directions with his Sharingan. After three minutes of inspecting, he straightened back up again.

"I'll be right back," he informed in a steely voice, and disappeared into the bushes.

Naruto looked at the stop where he'd exited from. Something was off, enough to make the blonde panic slightly. Sasuke hadn't looked at him since before the Sand siblings had showed up, not directly at least. And of course there was his voice; it was certainly a good octave or two lower, but it was the same tone that the Uchiha had gotten accustomed to using just before he ran off to Orochimaru; that I-don't-need-your-sympathy-stay-away-from-me voice. Even without his memories or the drive for revenge, Sasuke was still receding back into his old self.

Naruto had always told himself and everyone around him that the Sasuke that ran off wasn't the real Sasuke; the real Sasuke was buried under all the hate and revenge and insanity. That was the whole reason Naruto had spent the last three years chasing after him! But what was it now? There was nothing there, just the real and true friend that he was supposed to be deep down.

Naruto shook his head. He refused to believe it. The only thing Sasuke knew at this point about him old life was that he knew Naruto at some point. That and….oh no.

Temari.

She held Sasuke responsible. She let it slip that he was considered a Missing Nin. Sasuke _knew_ he was a criminal. Was that what was triggering the change?

A rustling of branches alerted Naruto of someone's presence. He tensed up, waiting to spring any moment, but the marble voice stopped him.

"It's just me," Sasuke informed him as he stepped out of the undergrowth, carrying an armful of red lumps.

He dumped them on the ground at the edge of the clearing and tossed one to Naruto, who caught easily.

"I hate tomatoes," the blonde grumbled.

"It was the only thing I could find," Sasuke answered coldly.

"I'm not hungry."

"You haven't had a bite in the last sixteen hours that I've known you. Eat." He still refused to look at Naruto as he bit into his own tomato.

The blonde examined the fruit in distaste before taking a bite. He chewed it, swallowed, and put the rest of the fruit on the ground next to him in disgust. Sasuke eyed the tomato wearily, and then his eyes traveled with the arm that dropped it as it reached for the opposite shoulder. He swallowed down the rest of his fruit and stared intently at the blood caking the rip in Naruto's sleeve.

"Take off the jacket," the demanded coolly as he crawled over to sit next to the blonde.

"Wha—"

"Take it off," he barked.

Naruto hesitated, but did what he was told. Sasuke grabbed the garment from him as soon as it was off and examined the wound closely. His Sharingan flashed on a few times, and he seemed even more frustrated. Clearly, he couldn't remember ever knowing any medical jutsus.

He cursed under his and stood up. "How can you be so stupid?"

Naruto looked up at him.

"What do you mean? Are you angry at me for getting hurt?"

"Yes," Sasuke hissed, "but it's more than that. That guy with the club was going to kill you. Why didn't you move?"

The blonde averted his eyes and didn't say anything.

Sasuke took a deep, shaky breath to try to calm himself.

"Forget it. You're an idiot. Just come with me."

Naruto didn't protest as he followed the Uchiha through the bushes to the stream.

Once there, Sasuke kneeled at the very edge of the water and beckoned for Naruto to come sit next to him. Without the cover of trees, Sasuke inspected the cut once more and scowled. Then, to Naruto's horror, he held up Naruto's jacket and ripped the bloodied sleeve right off.

"What the fuck did you do that for!?" He couldn't control himself. Jiraiya had gotten him that jacket.

Sasuke paid him no mind as he tore the severed sleeve in half. Then, tossing one half aside, he dipped the other into the stream, pulled it out, and wrung it out. Very carefully, the Uchiha began to dab at the wound.

Naruto winced, both at the reawakened pain and at the cold water. It was utterly quiet as Sasuke worked; even the birds had run away from yesterday's battle. Or was it the day before?

The silence was ominous. Someone had to say something before it drove Naruto insane. He opened his mouth to speak, but Sasuke beat him to it.

"Why do you trust me?" he mumbled under his breath angrily. It was so quiet it seemed like more of a question to himself then Naruto, but he felt the need to answer anyway.

"Because I know you."

"If you knew me," Sasuke leaned down to remoisten the cloth before going back to his work, "then why don't you act like they did. _They_ seemed to know me pretty well."

"I know you better," Naruto answered after a pause.

"So what? They weren't even from your village and they were prepared to kill me for what I did. I seem to be responsible for killing your whole family and everyone you knew, and yet you're sitting here letting me tend to your wound when you know full well there are a dozen ways I could kill you right now."

Sasuke really had caught ever word Temari had said. He sure was perceptive.

"That wasn't you," Naruto mumbled under his breath.

"Then who was it?" Sasuke snapped back.

"It…wasn't really you. I mean…it was…but… you were being manipulated."

"How do you know I'm still not being manipulated?" It was a genuine question. Sasuke spoke not like he was testing Naruto for suspicion, but like he was really curious how under such circumstances he would be trusted.

"It's very easy to see the difference," Naruto felt a small smile pull that the corner of his mouth.

"How so?"

"Well, remember when we woke up in the forest? Before we saw Konoha? When you woke up the first thing you would have done would have been to kill me. But you didn't."

"What reason would I have to kill you?"

Naruto frowned. "Long story."

Sasuke reached for the other, dry, half of the sleeve and began tying it around Naruto's arm.

"I think we have a few hours before the sun rises."

Should Naruto tell him? Was it too soon? Lying was out of the question somehow.

Sasuke pulled tight as he secured the makeshift bandage

"I can't."

Sasuke looked at Naruto's dejected face, searching it.

"Why not."

The words tumbled out before Naruto could stop them.

"I'm scared," he chocked, "that you'll go back to the way you were. Before."

Sasuke was quiet for a long time.

"How about…I ask you questions. You don't have to answer, only the ones you want to. But, you have to answer truthfully and completely."

Naruto considered this.

"Alright, a few."

Sasuke smirked. "Promise?"

Naruto nodded. The smirk widened.

"Why was I trying to kill you?"

Naruto had been expecting this one.

"I got in the way."

"Of?"

"Your quest."

"For?"

"Revenge."

"Against?"

"Next question." The questions and answers were being fired off like bullets; there was no pause for consideration.

"What was I avenging?"

"A lot of stuff. I got a bit confused at the end." Yeah, you left yelling about killing your brother, and you came back trying to avenge his honor.

"Come on, tell me. You promised."

"Isn't five questions enough?"

"Not even close!" Sasuke chuckled.

"You only get five questions a day!"

"Who came up with _that _rule?"

"I did," Naruto smirked. "Just now."

"Cheater," Sasuke mumbled, standing up.

"Am not!" Naruto bounced up right beside him.

"Shush, someone might hear us!" Sasuke hissed, not letting his smile drop a single degree.

"Am not!" Naruto repeated in a stage whisper.

"Are too."

They argued jokingly all the way back to the small clearing. At the sight of the tomatoes, Naruto's mouth watered. He hadn't realized how starved he actually was.

"Hungry now?" Sasuke chuckled watching Naruto's expression.

"Definitely!"

"Go ahead," Sasuke gestured. "They're all yours."

As the sounds of tomato carnage began, the Uchiha settled himself against a tree trunk. Fifteen minutes later, Naruto joined him, smiling happily.

"I hate tomatoes," he beamed.

Sasuke gave him a confused look and snickered

"You can go to sleep if you want. I'll keep watch."

"I'm keeping watch with you," Naruto informed him, planting himself down next to his friend.

Sasuke looked like he was going to argue, but seemed to change his mind against it. The blonde flashed his teeth triumphantly and made himself comfortable. Just as he was about to open his mouth to say something, Sasuke interrupted.

"But, you have to be absolutely silent."

Naruto pouted jokingly, crossed his arms, and turned away from the Uchiha, who let out an amused breath. They sat like, each watching the sky brighten ever so slowly as dawn grew nearer. It took a good half and hour for Naruto to become aware of his own change of mood. He couldn't be sure what brought it on, or who for that matter, but he had a pretty good idea he knew.

* * *

**A/N: **Again, nothing happens. But, as least now we know where our heroes are going! Yay Gaara! The F

As far as who Temari's finance is, you can figure that out yourself.


	4. Questions

**IMPORTANT EDIT: I have made major revisions to this chapter. If you have already read it, please read it again. If you have not yet read it, thanks you for coming this far, I hope you've liked it, and please ignore this.  
**

I had major writers block with this btw, sorry it took so long and thanks for all the wonderful reviews and support on the last chapter!

* * *

-

Naruto didn't realize that he'd fallen asleep until his head slid down the side of the tree trunk, hit Sasuke's shoulder, which instantly disappeared in an obnoxiously loud puff of smoke, and collided with the hard ground moments later. He sat up and groaned, rubbing his head and cursing under his breath.

"Idiot."

Naruto looked up to see Sasuke—presumably the real one—making his way out of the bushes carrying an armful assorted things. His clothes were different from yesterday, now a deep blue button down shirt open half-way at the collar and grey civilian working pants. Average as this getup was, Naruto couldn't seem to tear his eyes away from it. Sasuke, unaware of the staring, dumped the things he was carrying in the middle of the clearing, and sitting down next to them, began to sort through the pile.

"I am not an idiot," Naruto mumbled sorely as rubbed his head. "What's all that for?"

"Supplies," Sasuke answered calmly.

Naruto crawled over to the small pile. There was enough dehydrated food for the both of them to last a week, a lot of kunai and shuriken in varying states of care, two sleeping bags, extra clothes…

"Where did you get all this?"

Sasuke didn't respond and continued folding a shirt which he then shoved into one of the two green backpacks he had lying next to him without meeting his eyes. Naruto watched him for a moment. One could almost hear the click in his brain when he got it.

"You stole this from that village, didn't you!" Naruto realized with a start.

Sasuke sighed loudly and reached for a pair of pants.

"I didn't _steal_," he corrected, still not looking at Naruto. "I took what was left behind. It's as much ours as it is anyone else's."

"But still—"

"No, no but still. These people evacuated. They left it here by their own accord. Trust me, I looked through their stuff, anything valuable or worth stealing was gone. Besides, we have no money, what else are we supposed to do?"

Naruto opened his mouth to protest, but couldn't find a valid argument. Why did Sasuke have to be right all the freaking time? Still, taking this stuff seemed _wrong_. But what else _were _they supposed to do? Naruto snorted and crossed his arms.

He squinted at the pile.

"Where did the weapons come from? Don't tell me civilians have random kunai lying around their houses."

"Well those…" Sasuke looked a bit guilty. "I got them from…the Stone Shinobi…"

"You did _WHAT_?!"

"Shush! Do you want to everyone within a mile's radius to hear you?" Sasuke hissed.

Naruto paid him no mind. "You robbed their dead bodies? Are you nuts?! Haven't you ever heard of respect for the dead?"

"Stop screaming," Sasuke chided. "I went back this morning to give Yuko and her mom a proper burial. I cremated the other twenty guys while I was at it. It was a waste not to take the weapons they had. You aren't much good with one kunai and no chakra, I'll tell you that. Next time, I doubt Sand ninjas are going to come out of nowhere and save your scrawny ass. Speaking of next time, hand that over." He pointed to Naruto's headband.

The blonde's hand shot up automatically to touch it.

"No," he growled defensively, "this has sentimental value, you know."

"I'm not going to break it," Sasuke sighed. "Just give it to me."

"No!"

"Naruto…" He was starting to lose patience.

"You can't have it!"

"Naruto, we're in a war zone. You can't go around flaunting that you're the last surviving soldier of the country with no military to speak of. It's enough that your pants make you look like a walking traffic cone, we don't need the extra attention. We'll be posing as civilians."

Naruto scowled at Sasuke and fixed him with a stare. Sasuke leaned forward and stared back. They sat like that, unmoving for some time.

Finally, Naruto blinked.

Sasuke sat back with a smug expression on his face, hand out to accept the headband. Naruto let out a low growl, but reached back to untie the black knot anyway. He glared at the Uchiha with as much loathing as he could muster as he handed it over.

Sasuke shoved it as deep into one of the backpacks as he could before handing the bag to Naruto.

"I also brought this," Sasuke reached behind him and brought out a rod no longer than two feet in length. "You're not going to get far with just kunai and shuriken."

"And a little stick is going to change that?"

Sasuke smirked, grabbed both ends of the rod and pulled. It expanded easily, more than tripling its length before Naruto could even blink.

The staff looked good and sturdy. Naruto vaguely remembered the few weeks in the academy they'd spent learning how to use different weapons. There were all sorts of forms and positions that went along with this sort of weapon, and Naruto had gotten bored really quickly so he just started swinging it around. Kiba ended up getting sent home with a broken nose. Naruto winced just remembering.

"I don't think I know how to use one of those…"

Sasuke shrugged. "Me neither. But, I've seen you fight…sort of. Your build…you look like the kind of person that just jumps into battle head on. Act like it too. Most likely without thinking through the strategy properly first. Also, you keep trying to make shadow clones. Your methods until now have probably been all about power in numbers and head on attacks, am I right? Well, one of you swinging around a big stick sounds better than one you with a flimsy kunai."

Naruto didn't know whether to laugh or to be completely freaked out. Sasuke had been dissecting his fighting style behind his back! Somehow, that made him feel violated, yet strangely flattered and insulted at the same time.

Sasuke stood the stick up vertically and pushed it into the ground. For a second, it looked like it slid in like a knife into warm butter, but when he lifted it again Naruto saw that he had only collapsed it again. The Uchiha tossed him the staff and he caught it. He almost put it into the bag with his other new things, but realized last second and tucked it into his belt.

Over at the base of the tree lay Naruto's jacket, or what was left of it anyway. The blonde grabbed it protectively and shoved it into his sack. Then, putting the whole thing aside, he began inspecting the various weapons kunai lying in a heap in the center of the clearing. Some were rusted or chipped or bloody, and almost all of them were shaped somewhat differently from what Naruto was used to. Sasuke joined in as well once he was finished packing away the clothes and food.

"Hey Sasuke," Naruto began after several minutes of working in silence. "Remember what you asked me last night? About why I trusted you?"

Long pause. "Yeah."

"Well, I was wondering," Naruto fumbled with the kunai he was holding absently. "Why do _you_ trust _me_?"

"Why shouldn't I?" he asked. The question sounded genuine but he refused to meet Naruto's eye.

The blonde shrugged. "I don't know. Aren't I a complete stranger to you? You have to some reason to believe what I tell you…"

Sasuke rubbed the weapon he was holding with the corner of his shirt and held it up to the light, his expression unreadable. After a while, Naruto was almost sure he wasn't going to answer the question.

"You're right," Sasuke said much to Naruto's surprise. "I don't have any reason to believe what you say. But, we've been over this before. Not much of a choice, is there? At least by traveling with you, I know that in the case that you do break my trust I could kill you much easier than someone, say, who could actually mold chakra."

Naruto scowled. "So you're trusting me because I'm weak?"

Sasuke sighed and finally looked Naruto in the eye. "That's part of it," he gave him the infamous I-know-something-you-don't-know smirk.

"Then what's the other part?"

The smirk widened. "Not telling."

"Bastard," Naruto hissed.

"Thanks, you too."

Naruto exhaled a low growl and busied himself with the rest of the weapons. Fifteen minutes later they were restocked and ready. Sasuke was the first to stand up and shoulder his pack, and so stood around and waited for Naruto to be ready a minute or so later. Then, instead of taking off into the trees, Sasuke began making his way into the bushes.

"Where are you going?" Naruto called, all ready to spring and jump away in the trees.

"To Suna," he answered calmly.

"It'll take a week to walk there! Let's run!"

Sasuke turned place his hand of his hip. "I'm sorry, I was under the impression that jumping through trees requires chakra to keep your feet from slipping. My mistake." He gave Naruto a wicked smile before spinning back around and pushing his way through the shrubbery.

The blonde fumed and followed after. Damn his stupid chakra; damn it and its inability to function properly.

* * *

Never before had Naruto realized how much he hated the forest. It really wasn't that bad up in the treetops, hopping along, but at the forest floor it was a mess. The moss was slippery, there were animal droppings everywhere, and worst of all every time a twig broke under his weight Sasuke would stop and stiffen and look around hurriedly before picking up the pace from the already ridiculous speed it was at. The proper roads and even trails were out of the question if they wanted to stay hidden.

Naruto was still pissed at Sasuke for being a know-it-all and always having his way be the right way. The Uchiha seemed perfectly content and almost graceful leading the way through the scratchy twigs, hardly needing the occasional guidance as to the direction of their destination offered to him from behind.

The silence was starting to get annoying. "It's too quiet," Naruto complained.

"How about the question game, then?" Sasuke asked teasingly.

Naruto groaned inwardly. He hated having to keep things from Sasuke, and he just knew he'd let something slip one day or another. But heck, anything was better then this dreary silence.

"Sure, why not."

There was no pause. "Tell me about my family."

"That's not a question!"

"Alright then, what was my family like?"

Naruto considered this for a moment. "I didn't really know them." It was sort of a lie, he had come face to face with Itachi on more than one occasion, but he wasn't about to say anything to Sasuke about that.

"What happened to them?"

Naruto was surprised by this question, and let it show.

"You said that the Uchiha compound had been empty since I left. Something must have happened to them. What was it?"

Naruto couldn't believe he'd said something like that, but now that he thought about it, he could remember saying something about the compound back by the ruins.

"They were…killed."

Sasuke's fist clenched. "Why?" he tried to keep his voice even.

"I'm not really sure, the killer snapped I guess. I was seven then like you were, no one told me anything."

"Who killed them?"

"Next question."

Sasuke turned his head to glare at Naruto. For a second, the blonde thought he was going snap at him or something, but then his expression softened and he turned back around and continued on their path as if nothing had happened.

"Okay, so I was avenging my family. The way I'd go about this would be by going after the killer and taking his life in return. Am I right so far?"

Naruto's jaw hung open. "Ho—how did you figure—I mean—I never said you were avenging your family!"

"Yes, but you said I was avenging something," the Uchiha smirked, "and if my family was killed I know I'd want to get revenge, it's just logical." He paused and waited for Naruto's brain to catch up. "If my math is correct I have one question left. So, if my family was killed, why am I still alive?"

Naruto had to think about that one. "I'm… not…sure…I never thought about it. Maybe you fought the killer away."

"Didn't you say I was seven?" He raised an eyebrow.

"It's possible…"

"Yes, Naruto. The man who managed to wipe out a clan couldn't take on a seven-year-old boy. That makes perfect sense."

"Then I don't know. Maybe Ita— uh the killer got bored or didn't think you were worth it or something. Maybe he couldn't bring himself to kill a defenseless kid. I have about as much of an idea as you do, honestly."

Sasuke didn't press any further with questions, and so the atmosphere grew quiet between them once more. Naruto couldn't believe he'd let Sasuke figure out he was avenging his clan. Of course, the blonde hadn't taken Sasuke's own judgment as a hint into considerations. Anyone could piece together that their family was dead and they were after revenge together. How could Naruto have been so stupid as to let that slip?

But that was unimportant. As long as Sasuke didn't figure out anything about Itachi, everything could still work out. Besides, Itachi was dead. What could Sasuke do? Oh, that's right. Naruto rubbed his stomach absently. Itachi had appeared inside him at that battle. Was he still there? There was no way of knowing, but if Sasuke were to know such a thing, he'd certainly try to kill Naruto, if only just as a precaution. The thought made him shudder.

Then again, Sasuke had come back to the village looking to take it down from the top, saying something about avenging Itachi's honor. Something huge had happened to make him change his mind about Itachi, and Naruto didn't even know what it was! So Konoha was the enemy for him as well, something else he couldn't risk being found out. The list didn't end and he was always on it! And worse, there was no way to explain any of it! Sasuke would never believe him! And then, he'd just end up getting killed for being a bad liar when he had been telling the truth all along. Was this really the price for having Sasuke as a friend, even for a short while?

* * *

It was against Naruto's nature to walk quietly for long periods of time, and he would try to start a conversation every now and then, only to be ignored and when he grew persistent, hushed. Much to his chagrin, this continued for several hours. In the middle of the afternoon Naruto's complaints finally got to Sasuke, and he agreed to stop to eat by a small pool. Naruto smirked triumphantly; by the scowl on the Uchiha's face, he was irritable enough to be quite hungry himself.

"I'll get the firewood!" Naruto chirped as he dropped his bag on the ground.

"No, you won't."

The blonde looked up at his comrade's calm expression.

"Fire brings smoke, and smoke brings unwanted attention. You'll eat your food cold or not at all."

Naruto glared at him. "You can't tell me what I can and can't do!

"I think you'll find that I can," Sasuke replied in a velvety voice. The air began to prickle with the start of an electric current.

"If you want to say something, say it to my face, bastard!"

Sasuke didn't flinch. "If our position is given away by some stupid act of yours, I fight for myself and only myself."

"Is that all?" Naruto forced through gritted teeth.

"That is all." The Uchiha turned around and busied himself getting the food out.

Naruto contemplated throwing something at the back of the Sasuke's head; he would deserve to have a kunai lodged in his skull, the arrogant prick. Then again, that would just be a waste of a weapon. Angrily, he reached down fumbled around in his bag. He clutched his forehead protector in his fist and shouldered his bag before sticking his tongue out at the Uchiha and stomping in the other direction. Sasuke could do whatever he wanted, but Naruto had lost his appetite.

He didn't really care where he was going, but he was too tired from walking all day nonstop through uneven terrain at an insane pace with no chakra to go much further. Safely out of sight of the Sasuke, he settled on a half-decomposed fallen log to rest until he was fit to sneak into Suna by himself. The Uchiha bastard could sit around here and rot like this log for all he cared.

Naruto pulled a kunai out of his holster and rammed in into the log with his free hand as hard as he could. Not nearly satisfied by this violence, he repeated the act several more times before turning his attentions to his forehead protector in his lap, which he was clutching so hard his knuckles were turning white. The swirling Leaf symbol looked just _too_ familiar, and it dragged up more memories then he would have liked, all of them threatening to punch through the wound that had just barely begun to close up. It was hard to imagine that this headband could be, no, was, the very last of its kind. A few months back Shikamaru had taken down an Akatsuki from some extinct village, or at least a very small remote one with a symbol no one recognized. Did that make Naruto a missing nin, too? The thought was too painful to bear.

He tried to swallow the lump in his throat but it only grew bigger. In the headband was reflected the last five years of Naruto's life; from the day he received it from Iruka in the forest until he stood to face Sasuke and his team in front of the village gate. And every face he saw there he knew that he would never see again. He could only blame himself for not being strong enough to save his home and keep back the beast inside himself. Despite what Sasuke and Temari and Kankuro probably believed, the village was destroyed by Kyuubi, and Naruto had been blamed with the fox's exploits since he was barely a week old, so why not this time? Even up until three days ago there had been villagers that looked down at him in disgust, no matter how much he tried to ignore them. Being left alone like this was exactly what he deserved.

* * *

He lost track of how long he had been lost in thought, but eventually he heard deliberate footsteps approaching. He refused to look at Sasuke as he came around the log, yanked out the kunai and sat down in its place. He was carrying a bowl full of something that for all the world looked like cat vomit, although it was probably one of dehydrated messes he'd tried to rehydrate.

"Eat," he pushed the bowl at Naruto who pretended not to notice.

"I know you're hungry. If you don't eat now you'll go on being hungry until we stop for the night."

The blonde slid his thumb over the metal of his headband. Sasuke waited for him to reply, but none came.

"Alright then, be that way," he stood up. "We're leaving. Let's go."

Naruto didn't budge.

"Stop sulking, will you? All I said was that you couldn't start a fire. I heated this with a tiny fire jutsu I didn't know I knew. This sort of stuff just comes out of the blue at me, okay?" He studied Naruto's face before sitting back down again and putting the bowl down on the ground next to him. "Or maybe you're pissed because I said I'll only fight for myself. Is that it? You seem like the kind of person who'd hate for someone to fight their battles for them, but I guess it's sort of the principle of the thing though, isn't it?"

He sat silently and waited for Naruto's confirmation. There wasn't a sound to be heard for well over a minute. Sasuke wrung his hands in his lap.

"I'm sorry, okay?" The Uchiha mumbled after a minute's strained silence

Naruto met his gaze with awe at what he'd just heard.

Sasuke jerked back quickly and turned his face away, running his hand through his hair. "I'm not repeating it. Forget it. Eat your stupid food. We're leaving in five minutes"

Naruto nodded.

Sasuke stood up, serious again, if not a bit flustered. "And hurry it up. We have ground to cover."

He picked up the bowl and hurriedly shoved it into Naruto's hands before walking stiffly back the way he came. The blonde watched him disappear through the trees with the beginning of a smile playing at the corner of his mouth. It wasn't every day he heard an apology from the arrogant Uchiha; a simple sorry for him was an emotional breakthrough for anyone else. Maybe he did have a soul after all.

* * *

From there it was another grueling walk through endless forest, followed by fitful sleep and then more walking.The conversation stayed light and playful. Naruto grew bored pretty quick however, and insisted on playing the question game once more.

"Your turn. Five questions. What'll it be today?" He hoped to keep the topic out of dangerous waters today. Nothing about Itachi, or the Uchiha clan, or Sasuke' betrayal...just innocent questions.

"Hmm…let's see," Sasuke considered. "You say you knew me from before. How?"

"We were on the same Genin team as kids." Naruto paused. Here was his chance to steer the conversation away from Sasuke's dark past. "We were rivals, and friends towards the end, almost like brothers even. Our mentor was Hatake Kakashi. Yeah, that's right, the great Copy Cat Ninja. Legendary Shinobi or not, he always had problems with being on time and was always reading porn!" It hurt a little to be talking about him, but comforting as well.

"Then there was our other teammate, Haruno Sakura. She was really pretty and had a really, _really_, short temper. Had the biggest crush on you, too—"

"That's great," Sasuke interrupted, "but can we get on to my next question?"

Alright, so much for keeping the topic out of dangerous waters. "Yeah, sure. Go ahead."

"What changed?"

"Huh?"

Sasuke sighed. "You said we were friends. Earlier you said that I would have killed you on sight for getting in my way. So what changed?"

Naruto took his time before answering. "I've been trying to figure that out for the past three years. Something happened during the Chunnin exam. You hurt your shoulder or something and you weren't the same. Then you got beat up really bad by I—you got really beat up by some thugs and fell in with a bad crowd after you recovered."

Not a complete lie, but Sasuke didn't look like he was just about ready to believe it all.

"So, what happened after I…'fell in' with this 'bad crowd?'" Air quotes included.

"They…uh, took you away to their boss, who said he could make you stronger so you could defeat to man who killed your family."

He considered this answer. "And you tried to stop me from going, therefore getting in my way of power."

"Yes."

"So then, did I ever get my revenge?"

"Yes. And no."

"Elaborate."

"Hey! That was your last question!"

"Elaborate isn't a question," Sasuke reminded him smugly. "It's a request."

"Hn, fine," he picked his words carefully. "You did kill him. But then something happened and you came back to Konoha with a whole platoon of people, including Akatsuki, ready to take the place down from the top. You said you were avenging the killer's honor or something. I didn't understand and you didn't bother to explain because, again, I was only getting in the way."

It was quiet for a moment.

"Akatsuki…" Sasuke muttered thoughtfully. "I think I remember them."

"What?!" Naruto almost shouted but stopped himself at the last moment a shocked yelp. "What do you remember?"

"A few things…I'll ask you tomorrow." He finished with a suggestive tone.

Naruto gulped. Akatsuki as a basic group was alright to remember, great actually considering that maybe some things were coming back to Sasuke, but there was one thing in particular that was not good to remember: a single memeber of the organization, Uchiha Itachi.

* * *

Sasuke could see the distress on Naruto's face. He was anxious and fidgety and the rest of the day. The Uchiha watched him toss and turn during his turn to keep watch. He forced down rehydrated food faster than he'd ever seen him the next morning, and when Sasuke insisted to not be hurried as he finished his meal, which tasted about as appealing as it looked, the blonde ran off to refill both of their canteens in river not far off course. He got back in time to dance nervously around Sasuke as he finished eating and snap at him to hurry up.

Naruto actually looked close to cute when he was this flustered, but Sasuke didn't dare admit that, not even to himself. They were locked in a contest of sorts, whose patience was stronger than curiosity, his or Naruto's. It was fun watching the blonde exhibit all the sighs of being on the brink of losing, but Sasuke was just about there himself, although he didn't show it.

They stopped in the mid afternoon for lunch as always, and Naruto looked just about ready to burst. Sasuke sighed loudly as he set his bag down and wordlessly began to prepare food for himself. Naruto mimicked reluctantly and settled cross legged directly across from the Uchiha, but only swirled his finger around in the mush he'd created without eating. Sasuke felt more curious then hungry himself, but at least pretended to engage in the meal.

As of late, they had crossed into parts of the forest that were not completely devoid of fauna, so the silence of the meal was at least broken by the chirping a far-off bird. Sasuke found a strange comfort in the animals, less to do with the fact that they were there and more with the fact that if anyone tried to sneak up on him and Naruto they would send off the first alarm. No matter how secure the blonde felt, Sasuke just couldn't let himself relax about the chance of being followed, no matter how slim. He had been a missing nin after all, it might have been a left-over instinct.

There he went wondering about Before again. It was normal, seeing as everything he knew for certain consisted of the last four days of his life, with more than a decade and a half of the unknown. He really was itching to ask his question. And Naruto…all this worrying ought to be bad for his health. But that didn't mean he couldn't stretch the game out….

"Up to another round of questions?" Sasuke asked passively

Naruto chocked. The Uchiha waited for him to finish coughing and nod.

"Right," he smirked slyly. "How old am I?"

The blonde blinked at him. "Wa—what?"

"I asked how old I am. You can't possibly refuse me the answer, can you?"

"Almost seventeen…" Naruto mumbled inquisitively and swirled his food around his bowl again. Obviously not the question he was expecting.

"I see, and when is my birthday?"

Naruto shot a dirty look up at Sasuke. For a second, he thought the blonde had seen through his little game, but he soon lowered his eyes suspiciously and answered, "July 23rd."

"Oh, only a couple of months away! When's your birthday?"

"October 10th, same year as yours, " Naruto scowled.

One more question and then he just _had_ to ask.

"So Naruto, what's your favorite food?"

The blonde gripped the edges of his bowl in frustration and answered, "Miso pork ramen," through gritted teeth.

Sasuke smirked and continued eating, his appearance the utter quintessence of relaxation. He would wait for Naruto to point out the obvious. The blonde was actually shaking, with anger or effort Sasuke couldn't be sure.

"You have one more question left," he forced out at last. This was what Sasuke had been waiting for.

"Do I?" he asked innocently, and stopped to count on his fingers all the questions he'd asked. "Oh, what do you know? I do! Well then, let's see. Hmm…" he made a big show of thinking even though this question was all he could think about since yesterday, secretly watching Naruto's reaction out of the corner of his eye. This was the moment of truth. They both knew it was coming anyway.

"Alright, I got it," he stated, putting his bowl down next to him and leaning forward seriously. Naruto inched forward as well, although he didn't realize it himself.

Sasuke took a deep breath. "What is my relation to the Akatsuki member Uchiha Itachi?"

-

* * *

**A/N: **((dramatic music))

Yes, I'm getting to the plot as soon as I can. It would get there faster if I could cut out all the questions but they're important! Should I continue with the questions or fast forward so they get to the Suna border faster? The pace of a story is something I've never been good at.


	5. Abandoned

**IMPORTANT EDIT: I have made major revisions to the last chapter. If you have already read it, please read it again. If you have not yet read it, thanks you for coming this far, I hope you've liked it, and please ignore this.  
**

Sorry this took so long. I had some major writer's block from that nasty mistake I made last time, but once I cleared that up it just flowed.

* * *

-

Naruto was sweating bullets. Sasuke would have thought him capable of coming up with a response to the question he almost certainly knew was coming, but it turns out he was wrong.

"W-who?" Naruto asked innocently.

Sasuke didn't buy it.

"He's in the bingo book. He's in Akatsuki and I know you know about _them_. We have the same last name. So what is he to me?"

Naruto gulped. "He's…a relative!"

Sasuke narrowed his eyes. "I know that much, idiot. Answer the question! The longer you put it off, the more answers I'm getting just sitting here."

The blonde swallowed and scratched his chin, searching for answers in the leaves above and trying not to focus too hard on the pair of Sharingan eyes glaring at him.

This was taking entirely too long. Naruto's body language clearly read that he knew but didn't want to say. Why? Everything he'd kept from Sasuke until now involved the killing of his clan and the killer itself, along with some vague detail of running off to seek power. It seemed fairly obvious that Naruto didn't want Sasuke to remember his quest because that would almost certainly lead to his death. But yesterday he was told the original quest was over and done with, the killer was dead, and there was a new target, the village, which was now burned to the ground. So what was the problem exactly? There had to be some part of this he was missing.

This Uchiha Itachi guy, why had he survived? Was he the one that protected Sasuke from the killer? It was possible; he vaguely remembered reading the age…seventeen was it? But how long ago was that? No matter, he was older then Sasuke, and an S-rank criminal at seventeen means he could have easily overpowered the killer at the time of the massacre, but that still left the question as to why Naruto didn't want him to know this. Moreover, why was the man who protected a child during a genocide living the life of a criminal? Then again, Sasuke had been living that life himself, the reasons behind which were still unclear. Maybe the clan itself was corrupt; that would explain why the killer wanted to wipe it out, but left all so many more questions.

The killer! That was it! Every piece of information Naruto retained so far pertained to the killer! So that mean it was this Itachi person! That would explain his criminal lifestyle, but would also have to mean that he killed his own family! What a sick fuck. Wait a second, Sasuke had been trying to kill him in revenge, putting him in the same category. But why kill everyone? It made no sense! And why spare Sasuke of all people? Some sort of twisted mercy?

"He was…uh…" Naruto paused, reconsidering one last time, "…your older brother."

So his older brother killed his clan but spared Sasuke. What kind of sick family was he from? It almost made Sasuke glad he didn't remember them.

Naruto seemed to be studying the Uchiha's face looking for a reaction. Sasuke acted like he didn't notice as he finished what was left of his food and stood up.

"Hey," Naruto called, standing up as well. "Aren't you curious why your brother joined an S-rank criminal organization?"

"I don't have any more questions left today," Sasuke reminded calmly as he shoved his bowl into his bag and slug it on his back. "Besides, I already know."

"Y-you do?!"

"He killed the clan, where else was he supposed to go?"

Naruto froze. "H-how how did you—?"

"Not telling," the Uchiha smirked, and walked off into the bushes.

* * *

The sun had already risen the next morning, and Naruto still couldn't figure out how Sasuke had done it. Moreover, the Uchiha knew his brother was a traitor, but didn't seem to care. After several hours of persistent asking, Sasuke finally gave in and told him.

"And…you don't mind?"

"Mind what?" Sasuke asked.

"You know…Itachi was your brother and he killed your family. Aren't you going to like…avenge them and stuff?"

Sasuke actually chuckled at this. "I don't remember any of them at all. Besides, they're dead, aren't they? There isn't much to avenge, really, or any means of doing so. Sure, it's wrong to kill so many people, but we don't know why. Maybe he had a reason; no sane person kills their family without reason. "

Naruto had never even considered that logic. Of course it made sense; Sasuke didn't remember any of the other Uchihas, they were no more then strangers to him! Besides, Itachi already got what he deserved.

"How do you know he was sane? What reason could he possibly have?"

Sasuke didn't reply, and Naruto's attention slowly began to drift. He tried starting multiple topics of conversation, but Sasuke let them all fall dead until the at last walked in silence. Naruto mostly kept his eyes on the ground, but when he did look up, he noticed that the forest had changed; the there was more light filtering through the leaves and the trees themselves were farther apart. They were close to the Wind Country.

During their lunch break, Sasuke climbed the closest tree and informed Naruto that they should get to the desert sometime tomorrow. Suna was a day's run from there. Naruto found it hard to imagine that Gaara could actually still be there. After all, his whole world was gone save Sasuke, and that a small part of it was left seemed too good to be true although he knew full well it was.

The questions that afternoon were tough memories for Naruto. He told him all the details he could remember about Orochimaru in the forest of death, at least the parts he was conscious for, then about Itachi's unexpected visit, and what little he could remember about Kimimaru. When it came to the Valley of the End, he needed a bit more prompting, but eventually confessed most of the fuzzy details. His memory became especially bad at the end.

"So the last thing you remember perfectly clearly was me tearing a hole through your lung?"

Naruto tried not to wince. The emotional pain was still fresh after all these years, much more so than the physical one. "Yes, after that it started to get…red."

"Red?"

"Yeah…just red."

Naruto knew that red all too well; it was Kyuubi. Naruto had submitted to the miniscule crack in the Fourth's seal. He still held some control at the time, but his own rage fueled his power until the very last fuzzy thing he could remember was forming a Rasengan with one hand. Then it was just a swirl of red, and then, out of nowhere, absolute clarity. Sasuke and himself had just been suspended there, floating. Naruto could never forget the look in the other's eyes; it was beyond any depth he had ever seen there. And then instead of red, everything was replaced with black and before he knew it he was waking up on Kakashi's back. But he wasn't about to tell Sasuke any of that, much less anything about Kyuubi. That was one part of his past that was gone and he didn't want coming back to haunt him.

Sasuke didn't question the answer that was given, and instead absorbed himself in his own thoughts. Naruto had no idea what he could be thinking or what connections he could be making that once said aloud would make Naruto feel like an idiot for spilling the beans of some useless detail that turned out to be the key piece.

* * *

The boys pressed on until they were almost at the Suna boarder. Naruto complained of course, whining that it would just be a little farther, but Sasuke reminded him that sleeping in the open desert was one of the stupidest things they could do. Eventually they settled under a rocky overhang and Naruto took the first watch as usual.

The first few hours were quiet but the blond couldn't stop figiting with excitement. It must have been all the noises of him shifting around that masked the sounds of the surprise attack that struck them sometime in the early hours of the morning.

Naruto half gasped half hiccupped when he felt a cool metal kunai pressed against his throat from around the corner of the overhang. This tiny jolt woke Sasuke, although he was pinned to the ground by one of the attackers before he could do anything about it.

"Don't move," a cold male voice hissed in Naruto's ear. "Just answer the questions and we won't have reason to hurt you."

Naruto tried to swallow but his attacker only pressed the weapon closer to his neck.

"Who are you two? What is your business in the Wind Country?" This was a female voice coming from the figure pushing Sasuke into the ground. She must have been in her mid or late twenties.

"We aren't in the Wind Country!" Sasuke tried to thrash against the headlock she had him in. "We're still in Fire and you know it!"

The man snickered cruelly. "Fire Country? What Fire Country? Don't you know that the Feudal Lord was assassinated two nights ago?"

Naruto gritted his teeth. He'd hadn't known, but he certainly did now. Every country had two leaders, the Feudal Lord and the Kage. Now both were dead, leaving the Fire Country to fall apart.

"Bu—but the Kazekage said…." this was a third voice, the owner of which couldn't have been more than thirteen years old. They were standing at the front of the overhang, and in the darkness their oversized Chunnin vest masked their gender. Naruto caught a glimpse of their Sand forehead protector in the moonlight.

"The Kazekage said we had to protect the border!" the male barked at him. "Do _you_ know where the border is? Neither does anyone else. It's fuzzy and fluctuating and we have every right to call this land ours."

"But…but…they look like civilians…Why would you hurt civilians?"

"Nah," the woman answered, digging her elbow into Sasuke's back, "too well built to be any sort of harmless civilian. Besides, we've evacuated this area almost a week ago, there's no way they could have been left behind."

"Exactly," the man added through a smile, "so tell us who you are."

The blade was pressed closer into Naruto throat; any closer and it would draw blood. "I'm Uzumaki Naruto," he spat, only answering because there was no other way. "And that's…uh…" Dare he tell them Sasuke's name on the off chance that they decide to kill him?

"Uchiha Sasuke," the raven-haired teen growled. "We have permission to be here. Don't believe me? Check that bag against the wall. There's a note folded up in there somewhere that states we can go speak with the Kazekage."

There was silence as the man and woman exchanged nods. "Saito, search the bag," the man ordered.

"Y-yes sir!" the boy younger boy squeaked and hurried over to Naruto's bag. He began pulling out what was left of the food. Once most of it was out he pushed aside some of the things Naruto had shoved in there and finally pulled out wrinkled piece of parchment Kankuro had written the note on.

"Read it, boy," the women ordered Saito.

He cleared his throat nervously. "I, Sabaku no Kankuro, hereby give permission t-to Uzumaki Naruto of the Hidden Leaf and Uchiha S-S-Sasuke to pass onto Wind Country land a-and seek audience with the fifth Kazekage of the Sand Village, Sabaku no Gaara."

Naruto expected the kunai to loosen but it didn't.

"Forged," the man holding him down declared.

"Definitely forged," his female teammate agreed.

"Bu-but this is Ka-Kankuro-Sensei's handwriting. I know it is…" Saito stuttered nervously.

"Oh shut up," the woman told him sharply. "Everyone knows all the Leaf Shinobi were killed, there's no way these guys are who they say they are!"

"No! We survived! Really, it's true!" Naruto tried.

"Let's just kill them," the man suggested.

"You have to believe us!" the blond screamed but the woman had already drawn a small dagger and was about to slit it across Sasuke's neck.

"No!" The Uchiha annunciated forcefully.

A loud crack filled the air and the woman leaped off of Sasuke with a yelp. Sasuke took the opportunity to jump to his feet and draw out his sword. The man holding Naruto glared at her.

"He shocked me!" the woman complained. "It was like his whole body became filled with an electric current!"

Indeed, some of her hair was sticking up in unnatural directions. Then again, it might have been like that before.

"Ha!" the man chuckled, "It's two against one and we have your little friend." He pushed the kunai into Naruto's neck so hard that Naruto had to turn away so that the blade sliced the skin over the muscle on the side of his neck rather then the artery. A bit of warm blood dribbled down his collar bone.

"Sasuke!" Naruto warned.

The Uchiha looked between the woman and the young boy shaking from head to toe still clutching the permission notice. His Sharingan was ablaze and Naruto wasn't sure in this half-light, but it might has been twitching slightly as if it were about to change form but wasn't quite there yet. Suddenly, Sasuke had his arm around the boy, the blade of his sword hovering over his neck. His movement had been so fast Naruto hadn't even caught it, and luckily neither had his attacker because the blade against his own neck actually slackened a bit with shock.

"Alright," Sasuke breathed. "I don't want to hurt he boy, but I will unless you allow us to pass inside and speak with the Kazekage."

"What makes you think you're calling the shots around here?" the man sneered. "I still have your pal's life at my fingertips."

"And I have yours," Sasuke answered calmly.

The boy he was holding hostage whimpered. "P-Please. Kaya, Seiji, don't let him kill me!"

"Quiet," the woman named Kaya hissed.

As much as Naruto hated waiting for long stand offs to end, he hated being on of the powerless hostages even more.

"If Sasuke lets him go, will you let us live?"

"Why should we?" Seiji relied coldly.

"Fine then, take us as prisoners if you want. I really need to speak to Gaara. He's an old friend of mine." Naruto pleaded.

"Y-yes! Please take then as prisoners!" Saito begged him teammates. "They aren't lying! They really are from the Leaf! Go look in his bag!"

Kaya and Seiji exchanged weary glances before the woman nodded and walked over to the bag against the wall. Her dagger was still drawn and she didn't break eye contact with Sasuke until the very last moment.

"T-There, on the top," Saito squeaked, tilting his head every so slightly to indicate where. "See it?"

"Shut it, brat," Kaya hissed as she drew out a piece of fabric, pinning it between thumb and forefinger at arm's length as if it was something unclean.

Not just any piece of fabric; Naruto's headband. She held it up, smiling cruelly.

"Just as I thought, you're Shinobi after all. I hear the Leaf was a pretty tough bunch, not just anyone can kill one of them."

"Do you believe us now?" Naruto asked impatiently.

"Believe you?" The woman turned her head sharply to look at the blonde. "Believe you? I certainly believe that you killed someone and stole this if anything."

"I would never kill one of my friends!" Naruto exploded at her, only to wince in pain as the kunai was pressed further into his throat.

He looked to Sasuke for some assistance, but the Uchiha was staring expressionlessly at the forehead protector. But Naruto had seen that look before; Sasuke was thinking hard, considering every angle and possibility.

"Of course you wouldn't, kid," Kaya teased. "Especially not…" she looked closer the fabric, trying to make out the tiny writing scrawled on the inside seam. "Especially not Umino Iruka. Interesting name, it's a shame he was killed by you just so you would have a cover when you invaded."

Naruto's eyes widened with horror and rage. He opened his mouth to scream at her, but she's already turned to Sasuke, who tightened his grip on his sword. Saito whimpered.

"Did you kill someone too, or is this one yours? Only thought of stealing one, eh? Useless!" she threw the headband at the ground and turned to the man holding Naruto.

"Let's just kill them both. We can forget about the brat, say that he was killed in the fight. It's his first B rank, it won't be hard to believe. Besides, it'll only give us more reason for killing them."

Saito went rigid under Sasuke's sword. "No," he mouthed, but the actual words didn't escape his lips.

"Don't be so cruel, Kaya," the man smiled, his tone saying the opposite of his words. "Whatever we do won't be nearly as bad as what the council will decide for them. I say we take them in, spare the poor kid over there."

The woman glared at her teammate. Naruto was unsure of the look that was returned to her. After thirty seconds of silence, the woman's eyes narrowed.

"Fine," she huffed. "We'll do as you say, _Captain_."

Kaya turned towards Naruto, ready to assist in tying him up.

"Wait."

All eyes turned to Sasuke. His gaze was hard and his expression set.

"I don't care where you take _him_," he indicated at Naruto, spitting the word like it left a bad taste in his mouth. "I go free. Unlike him, I have no business in your country. We were traveling together for convenience, which just ran out. He means nothing to me. Let me leave and I won't so much as go near your border."

He made eye contact with everyone in turn, leaving Naruto for last. The blonde couldn't quite hold back the flinch when he saw the truth reflected in Sasuke's eyes; the Uchiha had meant what he said. So everything had been an act, from the very beginning. Sasuke had only used Naruto to gather information, and now that it became a trouble to be with him, he was just going to run away. Naruto couldn't comprehend how stupid he had been. Did he really believe that Sasuke's nature could be changed just by losing his memories? Worse yet, how could he even begin to imagine that he would retain his new disposition after he knew the truth? Laying out the last week in his mind, Naruto could see every mistake he'd made. Uchihas were said to be masters of manipulation; it turns out it was more of a blood trait then upbringing.

_"I fight for myself and only myself."_

_"He means nothing to me."_

What seemed like a million years ago, Sasuke had left Naruto in the dust telling him that he wasn't even worth killing. Twelve years old, the blonde thought he knew better. For four years he clung to that notion, but now that it was refreshed in his mind the truth was there. Naruto meant nothing to Sasuke. Getting him back, no matter by what force or circumstance, would change nothing. He was dirt, less then dirt, to Sasuke, and no amount of willpower was ever going to make any difference. As a child, he could have clung to believing he could win his friend back, but now he was an adult, thrust forcefully into the harsh Shinobi world. Here there were no allies; here there were no friends. Sasuke was an illusion from the start.

Naruto's concentration was broken by a hand grabbing him roughly by his hair and shoving him forward. His hands were pulled back painfully and tied at the wrists. He turned his head to the side, and could see Sasuke's body out of the very corner of his vision. The Uchiha was ordering the young boy to pick up his bag, the sword still by the boy's throat. Not just his bag, Naruto's too. By orders and threat of death, the young boy emptied one bag into the other along with everything else that was strewn on the ground from the search, and handed the lot of it to Sasuke. Naruto tried to struggle against his bonds but it was no use.

The blonde was allowed to sit up more as his captors continued binding him. He watched Sasuke edge himself and the boy over to the exit. At the last second the two ex-Leaf ninja locked eyes.

"I won't forgive you," Naruto mouthed.

For a moment there was a spark of remorse in Sasuke's eye, but before Naruto could have time to comprehend what he saw the Uchiha was gone into the night, leaving nothing but a slight displacement of wind and a thoroughly shaken boy in his wake.

Seiji sensed the betrayal that was currently in the process of eating at Naruto.

"It's called life, kid," he mocked. "Get used to it."

With a yank at Naruto's collar and a bark to get on his feet, they were off. Not only were his hands tied, but there was a longer piece of rope from his wrists held by the woman, and another around his neck held by the man. He was a like a dog on a leash, which was higher than he felt.

* * *

The pace during the night was treacherous, made only worse by the fact that they were walking on loosely-packed sand. Naruto was only too relieved when his captors decided to stop shortly before noon. He fell to his knees before he even came to a complete halt.

The first thing the Sand Shinobi did was drink water. Naruto was forced to watch and wait until they were done, more aware every second how dry and sandy his mouth was. When they finally had their fill the man and woman sat down to eat, sending the boy to help Naruto drink. He wasn't allowed to untie him, but he did give him more water then he was told to. He even gave the blond some crackers that were meant to keep Shinobi going all day without other forms of sustenance, despite being told to not give the prisoner any food.

"If it's any consolation," Saito whispered while cleaning the wound on Naruto's neck of dry blood. "I believe your story that Kankuro-sensei sent you. Kazekage-sama will really be glad to hear that a Leaf Shinobi survived. I hear he was really upset when he got the news."

Naruto tried to smile, but it came out fake and weak. The pain of Sasuke's betrayal was still very fresh, made only worse by the realization that he once again could do nothing to stop him.

The boy rubbed the wet cloth over Naruto's cheek, analyzed his work, and then scrubbed a bit harder.

"There're some lines on your cheek. They look like old dirt or something, very light. You won't see them unless you look closely. They won't come off though, I think you'll need soap for 'em."

Naruto's eyes widened and his hand would have shot up to his face had it not been tied behind his back. His lines, the whisker lines, were fading. Yet another reminder that he Kyuubi was gone.

A sudden bang caused everyone to turn their heads sharply to its source; the direction they had been traveling form. Dark clouds hung over the edge of the forest, small stings of lightening dancing along them. One such string, a rather thick one, flashed down and met the ground with a deafening crash.

"Looks like the rainy season is coming early this year," Seiji commented.

"We'd best get a move on before the storm catches up to us," the woman agreed.

Within a few minutes the troop was packed up again and heading towards Suna, their pace somewhat hindered by the beating sun. The storm broke up shortly after they left and showed no sign of reassembling itself. The experienced Shinobi stopped every hour or so to give Naruto water, but only when he was assisted by Saito did he get enough to relieve his parched throat.

The sun was already setting when they neared what looked like an ordinary sand dune from the distance. As they got closer, Naruto was able to recognize the steppe design of the outer wall of Sunagakagure. It was truly amazing camouflage; even having been in the village itself twice, Naruto would never have recognized it at first.

They were met at the tunnel entrance by a squad of ANBU. Seiji exchanged a few hushed words with them before handing Naruto over. One of the masked nins slapped a piece of paper over Naruto's forehead and formed a few seals in fast succession. Naruto just had time to open his mouth to ask what was going on before his vision failed and his knees gave out.

* * *

When Naruto opened his eyes he was lying on a cement floor facing a wall. A candle or torch was flickering dim, yellow light from behind him. Shinobi were always taught to probe their surroundings with chakra before showing any signs of consciousness. Unable to do so, Naruto just groaned and rolled onto his other side.

Not five feet away were the metal bars of a jail cell. He was in a Shinobi prison. He was a felon. His one hope of being able to plead his case and see Gaara was an interrogation, but he didn't even have that. Changes were, he'd be left here to rot. The people that captured him probably didn't even remember his name! What was he going to do now?

Gaara was the last piece of his old life he had to cling to. There was Sasuke of course, but he ran away and broke his heart. Again. Naruto wanted to be furious with him. He wanted to know that the next time he saw him he was going to punch his lights out and kick his ass into next week. He wanted his last words to him to be the truth, or at least to believe they were the truth. But the worst part of this whole scenario was that regardless of what Sasuke did, Naruto wanted him back and would do anything to do so if he got the chance.

He could no longer blame that feeling on friendship, since right now he hated Sasuke's guts more then he ever had. He'd always known that it was more then friendship from the start anyway; Sasuke had always been like a brother to him. But brothers didn't leave brothers to get captured and killed, not good brothers at any rate. But that metaphor didn't seem appropriate for this feeling. He just wanted to see Sasuke one last time, no matter the cost to himself.

But that was impossible. Meeting with Gaara was impossible. This was the dead end of Naruto's life. There was nothing left to fight for, no one to protect. He was weak and powerless and completely alone, without even Kyuubi's mocking laughter resonating in his empty stomach.

Naruto rolled back over to face the wall and closed his eyes.

* * *

He woke again, he didn't know how much later, to a someone prodding his back with their foot. Instantly he rolled and squinted at his attacker, who turned out to be one of the guards.

"Get up boy, you're 'bout to have a very important visitor," the man grunted and stomped from the cell without further word, slamming the door behind him.

Naruto sat up groggily and rubbed his eyes. The torchlight was still the same as it was when he fell asleep, and there was still no sign of any light from the outside world. _Very important visitor,_ huh? Who on earth would want to visit him?

Footsteps began to echo from somewhere down the corridor. Several people. A few of them were talking quickly, pleading with their companion, who remained silent. As the group proceeded closer to his cell, Naruto was able to make out individual words.

"Please, Kazekage-sama, you don't have to do this."

"There's a fairly good chance it isn't him, Godaime-sama. It isn't safe for you here."

"Kazekage-sama, please be reasonable."

Kazekage-sama? Gaara? Gaara was here? No, impossible, it made no sense. There would be no reason for him to be here. There was no one to convince him to come.

The group of figures— there were four of them— finally reached the cell. Three wore the standard Suna Chunnin vests and were crowded around the fourth figure. This one blocked out the light of the touch, casting a shadow over Naruto's figure sitting on the cement ground, covered in dirt and grime and sand.

He wore the blue and white Kazekage robes and held the hat in his left hand. He certainly had Gaara's hair and Gaara's turquoise eyes and Gaara's face and even Gaara's kanji scar, but it wasn't Gaara, or at least not the one Naruto remembered. For starters, there were no dark rings around his eyes. And he had sparse reddish hairs growing over his eyes, perhaps the beginnings of eyebrows.

This stranger stared down at Naruto unblinkingly, assessing him. The silence was getting unnerving.

"Gaara?" The blonde asked finally, testing his voice. "Did you plan to grow eyebrows without telling me?"

The Kazekage blinked.

"Who has the keys to the cell?" he asked of one of the men standing next to him calmly.

"I-It isn't safe to go in there, Godaime-sama! This man was trying to sneak into our country. He could be dangerous!"

"I wasn't asking you what you thought of this man, Haru. I only acquired as to who posses the keys to this cell."

The man called Haru pointed to one of the other men accompanying Gaara. This second man handed the keys over without protest, although he didn't look happy about doing so one bit. Gaara accepted them with a nod, selected the one he needed and slid it into the lock of the cell. With a clang the iron gate sung back.

The other men tensed up, ready to protect their Kazekage if Naruto tried anything, but Gaara waved them off, instead strolling into the cell. He didn't even have his sand gourd. He stopped two paces away from Naruto.

"I would shave them, but Temari won't let me," he answered matter-a-factly.

It took Naruto a second to realize he was answering his previous question. Even then he still couldn't find to respond.

"You know for a while back there I was sure you were dead," Gaara continued.

Naruto smiled. "That makes us even, I guess," he chuckled, remembering his last trip to these parts almost a year ago.

The corner of Gaara's mouth twitched—his version of smiling—as he extended his hand down to Naruto to help him to his feet. The blonde took it, and as soon as he was on his feet flung his arms around his old friend. Gaara stiffened and his personal guard readied to jump on his signal, but none came. Cautiously, the Kazekage returned the hug.

"It's so good to see you again! You got taller!" Naruto rejoiced.

"It's good to see you too," Gaara relied, not even coming close to matching the blonde's enthusiasm. "But Naruto…"

"Yeah?"

Gaara pulled back from the hug and held Naruto at arms length by his shoulders.

"When was the last time you had a shower?"

The reply he got was simply a booming laughter. Finally, _finally,_ things were going in Naruto's favor. At least he had one friend left in the world.

The blonde was escorted out of the jailhouse, Gaara at his side. He still got weary looks from the bodyguards, but he scarcely paid them any mind, too busy sticking his tongue out at all the jail guards they passed. At the moment, Sasuke was only a secondary concern to the euphoria of seeing Gaara again. A friend was still left in the dark world left behind after Konoha's fall; there was still hope.

As soon as they were outside, Naruto began talking. He talked about everything at once, sentences completely disjoined, trying to say everything important as quickly as possible.

Gaara held up his hand to bring him to silence.

"Naruto, there will be time and place to say all this, but it isn't safe here. I know there is much to talk about, but it will have to wait."

It always amazed Naruto how much Gaara could change in such a short time. This time it was more than just his disposition, but his appearance as well. Yet through all that change, he still managed to remain Gaara, although they eyebrows were pushing it. Unbelievable.

Naruto jerked an imaginary zipper across his mouth and beamed. Of course this didn't stop him from bouncing and figiting the whole way to the Kazekage tower.

He had expected Gaara to take him straight to his office to discuss things through, but instead they took a smaller corridor branching off from the main hallway. They stopped in front of an ordinary wooden door. Given the signal, one of the guards drew out an enormous ring of keys and unlocked it.

The door swung open to reveal a fairly spacious bedroom. In the center stood a large mahogany bed, big enough to sleep two or three people comfortably; on either side stood a matching nightstand. Pictures of grassy landscapes hung on the walls in wooden frames. A mahogany writing desk was pushed up against the far wall opposite a large wardrobe.

"This room and the one next to it are usually used by diplomatic guests," Gaara explained. "You will be staying here, since most of our apartment housing is being filled by refugees."

He took a few steps into the room, followed by Naruto; the guards remained outside.

"That door over there leads to the adjoining room," the Kazekage continued, gesturing to one of two doors. "No one is staying there at the moment and you can go in if you so wish, but we would appreciate if you leave things in there as they are." That was the polite way of saying, _stay out and don't touch anything._

"This door," he pointed to the one of the opposite wall, "is the bathroom. I hope you find everything in there to your liking."

Naruto nodded, his mouth slightly agape. He hadn't expected to go from prisoner to guest of honor is such a short time, and the room really was much less modest then what he was used to. Not that he was complaining.

"There are clean clothes in the wardrobe. If you need anything, I will be down the main in the main conference room. Someone will bring food to you in about an hour. At three you will be summoned to meet with me and then we can discuss everything that has happened thus far. I'm sure you are eager to hear the official reports and Suna would very much appreciate your account of the story. I will see you then."

Upon finishing his speech, Gaara turned to leave

"Wait," Naruto called.

The redhead turned to face him, already half-way out the door.

Naruto smiled. "Thanks a million, Gaara."

"You will find," The Kazekage answered, "that I am not the one you should be thanking. Everything will be explained later, and believe me I am looking forward to that explanation as much as you are."

He closed the door before Naruto could ponder as to what that answer might mean.

The blonde gawked at the door for a minute before realizing there was a bed behind him. A real, honest to god, bed. With a mattress. But that could wait, because like hell he was even going to touch the bed before he took a shower. He was never the one to miss showering very much, Sakura tended to punch him for it on occasion, but a week without one in the dirt and grime and blood was just pushing it. For the time being, all thoughts that didn't involve warm water pouring over his head flew away as he stumbled towards the mahogany door. He was finally starting to grasp just how tired, sore, and disgusting he felt. The world would just have to do without him for the next half hour or so; it was shower time.

-

* * *


End file.
